Wha's like us... Fiona Smith

WHILE the politicians pontificate in preparation for the election, real life has to go on for most voters. For 41-year-old Fiona Smith, from Aberdeen, this involves preparing for her own death from breast cancer after doctors told her she was terminally ill.

The way the single mum has set about the task is remarkable, taking early retirement, spending holidays with friends, penning farewell letters to be opened after her death and setting up her own funeral to spare her teenage daughter and only child, Suzie, from having to complete the distressing arrangements. Her family know what songs she wants played and a cheery slideshow has been planned so that her loved ones will remember her life as she wants it remembered.

She is determined to enjoy every day for her daughter's sake and is undergoing chemotherapy to keep the cancer at bay, swimming every day and eating healthily. "To look at me now," she says, "you wouldn't even know I was ill."

Suzie will also inherit a "memory box" full of mementoes of her mother's life. She will recall a brave and dignified woman who helped all of us put our own lives in perspective.