That’s a wrap! David loves his 2018 photo album. Against all odds we were able to collect fabulous memory seeds this year. We’ve also seen a few ones blooming unexpectedly into exotic flowers. There were a lot of dancing, painting, swimming, laughing, yogaing, theatre going, walking, exploring as well as some less colourful moments. But not that many or I already forgot about them. My wish for 2019 is simple, to keep on trusting D&I’s truth. To keep on believing in the power of all these small things each of us do regularly alone and together just because it lift us. What else is there anyway for us but our fleeting togetherness? Beyond paralysing notions of death, heartbreak, terminal illness I hope we can find the strength to keep on embracing the now so we can go on connecting to each other in the now and grow somehow. Just like we’ve done thanks to many people open to the slightly unexpected like all the kind souls we had the chance to cross path with and have had around in 2018. Thank you! ❣️🌺🦖🧙🏼‍♀️🧙🏽‍♂️📸🌙 #thanks4remembering #davidjackwickertandme #happynewyear #memoryseeds https://www.instagram.com/p/BsEP-xZHViO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7f2oirxypmyy

#frozentime #crystalized #foreverendeavor #thanks4remembering #davidjackwickertandme #truelove #rawbed #togetherness #homeisus #nolabel #spiderweb #memorycatcher #enduringlove #bearwitness #peacefulstrength #deathmyfriend https://www.instagram.com/p/Bp9G892n9tT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=127o1qldzpms2

We learnt a new extremely useful word today! It’s a verb actually: Mbuki-Mvuki. Seth (the nice chap pictured with David) told us that it is one of these words that is tricky to translate in English, in Bantu it refers to the irresistible urge to shuck off your clothing spontaneously and dance naked in joy! Sounds familiar? Perfect for our upcoming dance class at @rambertdance . You’ve been warned 💃🏿🙈😆. Swipe to see the actual garment I got for D to shed off. It’s from @weareidioma #ethicalclothing #multiculturalism #davidjackwickertandme #thanks4remembering #idioma #thepeninsulist (at Greenwich Peninsula) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnMGN5kAbn2/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=eyh2hcr9toxl

#davidjackwickertandme (at Natural History Museum, London)

My bear loves tartan. #montessoridementiacare #craftyafyernoon #moonpeople #davidjackwickertandme #selfportrait #teenager https://www.instagram.com/p/CKZagFiHbmf/?igshid=bf4kmxwodeoy

#davidjackwickertandme #togetherness #playfulness #videocalendar (at Limehouse Marina)

David: « Fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an [Englishman] Belgianwoman, Be s/he alive, or be s/he dead I'll grind [his] her bones to make my bread. » (From Jack and the Beanstalk and King Lear!) Never a dull moment when David randomly comes up with quatrain to suit a moment and I have to play Sherlock 🕵🏻‍♀️ to find out where the words come from. This time the occasion was that I made us jump on the wrong tube so David expressed his joy in his usual style: making a funny face, reciting a verse with no name and spinning my head one more time. The story of our life together, 13 years so far! 🧙🏽‍♂️🧙🏼‍♀️#davidjackwickertandme #thanks4remembering #timetravelers #partnerincrime #togetherness #jackandthebeanstalk #playfulness #dailyfun

#rehearsing #beyou #alltheversions #expandyourreality #thanks4remembering #davidjackwickertandme https://www.instagram.com/p/Byr2xSYHnyy/?igshid=lpixba1yngbk

Ladies of Waterloo Bridge by @joymiessi . Southbank Center. Photograph by Kevin Lake @tate | Tuesday we got to go to our very first film test screening. We can’t say anything about it yet as it hasn’t been released. It is most frustrating as D and I agreed, it was the best films we’ve seen in a long time. But on our way to the Curzon we stopped by Foyles and got to see LDN WMN, a gem of an exhibition featuring some artists we had the chance to cross path with such as Joy and Julia @voglart . The project originated as a series of eye-catching public artworks across London created by women and non-binary artists in 2018, inspired by unsung women heroes from the city’s history. How did we missed this??? For instance thanks to Joy we learned that London’s Waterloo Bridge is also known as the Ladies Bridge in remembrance of the women who helped to rebuild it during WWII! That area holds so much good memories for David starting way back in the late 70’s. It’s where his children grew up, where he earned his stripes as an ‘impresario vicar’, where he got to be a ‘turbulent priest’ offering evidence at the famous 1980’s Coin Street public inquiry against the land grab by private companies, where he welcomed Her Majesty the Queen for the opening of St John’s Crypt as a dedicated space to support the rehabilitation of single homeless people and much more! And today it is also the place where we get to recharge our batteries with hope and fun thanks to the good vibes brought by the dance for Dementia group at @rambertdance , and also by the community theatre project #PublicActs at the @nationaltheatre . It was also the place where we were deeply moved and inspired by all the Rebels and the urban oasis they created during the occupation of the bridge by the #extinctionrebellion movement earlier this year. David and I moved a lot in our lifetime. I picked up a flyer about a play by Thunder Troupe that says: Home is where your heart finds piece, wherever that is. That’s it! Right there, we found our home. What’s best is that we share it with so many wonderful things and people! 💚💙💜❤️ #thanks4remembering #davidjackwickertandme #behindeverygreatcity #thegalleryatfoyles (at Waterloo Bridge) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByrkzSmH0nJ/?igshid=1gb8tjuvf65pd

🎬It’s a wrap! Today the bear and I painted his 76 years on this earth in bright colours. It ‘only’ took us 4 hours!!! Hopefully we managed to paint a portrait of David Jack’s kaleidoscopic life, spanning 7 decades. It came out as a delicate flower made of love, creative sparks, and kinship extended to people at large, things, and the natural world. All this nourished by a combination of lighthearted fun (including a pinch of dark humour), wit, and gregarious nature towards all who crossed his path, fellow humans and non-humans equally. It is not an obituary, it’s a celebration of all that is good in life. Harry, our very patient filmmaker, is off now to work his magic, pulling together all the threads to give birth to DJ’s life film! A big thanks to all those who have taken the time to send us their memories of David! We’ll let you have a look at our baby soon ... #thanks4remembering #mylifefilms #davidjackwickertandme #carebear #strawberryshortcakedoll #blueberrymuffin #colourful #team #creativityasmedicine #momentsofwonder #extendedrealities #innovatorforgood #family #love #fulllife #sparks #resilience #beautyistruthtruthbeauty https://www.instagram.com/p/ByVd1tMHCn0/?igshid=5novqffl8xfs

The power of place | The minute David stepped in the Oval arena he was sent back in the early 1950’s when he first visited the cricket ground with his grandfather John Racine Boxall. It wasn’t planned. We ended up there by chance thanks to an invite to attend #ASAC2019 from the great folks @wearehowdoi . It was a very moving and precious moment for both of us. I know well and love the flamboyant and playful side of my David. But sometimes and given the right conditions, he may also invite me to take a glimpse into the depth of his treasured past. When one of these moments pops up, the time slows down and I feel it all. Thank you @tttaryl for your pic, for the unexpected opportunity to awaken DJ’s love for his grandpa through cricket, and for facilitating this rare moment of togetherness I’ll cherish. Not to mention that, thanks to what I’ve learned through our collab, I was also able to capture it on video without killing the beauty of the moment for any of us! 💪🏾⚡️#thanks4remembering #cricket #togetherness #wearetimetravelers #davidjackwickertandme (at Kia Oval Cricket Ground) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bx0Hb5Gntmg/?igshid=15rp8kqdi4yjn

What a wonderful surprise waiting for us today back from #dancingfordementia at Ballet Rambert. So much wisdom in a small pack of cards! Charlotte @storychaplain thank you for gifting this gem to us. Each card resonates so much with what we’ve learned along the way. We will get a few for sure to spread the love around. The cards also reminded me of when as a small child I cooked one of my grandma’s famous Bûche de Noël with her. Her love for all the simple ingredients, her patience, attention to details, our laughs and anticipation thinking about the faces of the others eating it, the challenge of creating the delicate sculptures in almond and sugar, my impatience etc. I may not be such a good cook but thanks to her I’ve been learning about creative ways to source the ingredients that make my bear feel safe and happy... at least for now! It is hard work when you walk partially blindfolded, as most people in our situation, but this little pack can shed some light on how to keep going with the flow! #seetheperson #thanks4remembering #davidjackwickertandme #gowiththeflow #everydaywisdom #actofjoy #creativityasmedicine #recipeforlove #grandmotherslove #caring #cookinglife #IngredientsCards https://www.instagram.com/p/BxkSTWznER6/?igshid=12sktk3ixxu0w

Stevie Wonder - For once in my life. #thanks4remembering #davidjackwickertandme (at Hayward Gallery at Southbank Centre) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwxBfikndd5/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=14i1hhkf9l3jk

Today down the yellow brick road you could get a glimpse at what it takes to inspire over 150 people to create extraordinary acts of theatre and community... #alltheshadesofpink #newbeginnings #mononoaware #unstranslatableexperience #connectedness #steviewonder #communitychoir #asyoulikeit #behindthestagedoor #nationaltheatre #communitytheatre #togetherness #hivemind #purejoy #eudaimonia #thanks4remembering #davidjackwickertandme #ourtribe (at National Theatre) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwxA1VcHJSC/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1noho5bxawpkm

#teleportation #inprogress #mindtravel #davidjackwickertandme #cornered #thanks4remembering https://www.instagram.com/p/BwbhgUmHdYF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=e4p0d5zopx72

Preparation for DJ Life’s Film | 🎬take 2: We extended the category of beings who left a mark in DJ’s life to plants and animals when we realised that bees and orchids in particular kept on cropping up! Being kind to the environment and all the beings inhabiting it is a recurrent theme. That got us thinking 🤔 After all that’s how David and I first met, 14 years ago! Surely that should appear in his film somehow. Therefore we also decided to explore DJ’s timeline through big recurring themes. Pretty happy with that skeleton for now. Next we’ll be transferring all the memory seeds to the storyboard and allocating the visuals (photos/videos/drawings) and sounds to each of the 7 chapters. We’ve asked friends and families for help with pictures and stories as some chapters are a bit shorter on visuals than others right now. We got a good response so far. Crossing fingers we’ll piece together a kaleidoscope David will be able to look at and be transported to the many happy places he visited across time and space. The fact that David is still in his own way able and willing to engage in the process of creating a vivid version of the full life he had so far is making it all worthwhile. And I am so glad I got a part in it. #thanks4remembering #davidjackwickertandme #mylifefilms https://www.instagram.com/p/BwP8tDZHL1P/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1cgi06jed6z4h