Most Bloomin’ Excellent

We didn’t believe it until we saw it in the papers, that’s why it wasn’t too hard to keep it a secret.

For over a month we asked ourselves – is it really true? Was it a hoax? Maybe the letter got lost in the post?

Because when they first wrote to Georgie, they gave her a box to tick, a warning to be secretive and not a lot else.

And even when the journalist contacted us on Friday afternoon, it still didn’t seem real – not until the moment when we opened the papers, last Saturday morning, scanned the list and found Georgie’s name.

For Humanitarian Services, it read, in particular to Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone:

Georgina Grundy-Campbell: MBE

“I still don’t think I deserve it,” says Georgie, after spending the better part of a year working 7 days a week, 18 hours a day to bring comfort and support to families and individuals whose lives had been devastated by a brutal disease no-one understood.

I don’t do it often – but on this occasion I’m going to risk disagreeing with her.

Raise a glass for Georgie – because in her current state (27 weeks pregnant today!) she’s unable to raise one herself (at least not one containing anything more fun than apple juice…).

Georgie’s hard work and dedication is, to me, exactly the kind of thing these honours are intended to recognise – her selflessness, generosity and compassion humbles me. It’s a mark of her character that I’m only posting this now – a week after the fact – and that until now Georgie has only shared her amazing news with a handful of her closest friends and family.

Georgie’s efforts to help people less fortunate than herself – people truly in need – represents all that is good and to me serves as a daily reminder, in this world that sometimes seems crazy and cruel, that there are good people in the world who want to make it better place for us all.

How glad I am to be married to one of them.