Christine was a real character who very early in life, chose to live how she wanted and resisted being shoehorned into any mold. 

My early memories of her include my dad teasing her, for letting in 10 goals when in goal for the school hockey team. She never lived it down and left soon after.

She was a smart young women who managed to leave the school she hated, Cheadle Grammar School for Girls, with one O level but as an mature woman had read more books in a year than I have read in a lifetime.

Another classic story was when as a young hippy she went to Ilfracombe for two summers to work in a hotel and have some fun. She decided after the second season, not return home and went to live in commune/aka squat in Cheltenham.

Upon eviction, my father and I went to collect her from Cheltenham and return her home and from there was swiftly trialled as a health care assistant at St Ann's Hospice in Health Green (but only after being forced to remove her surfing beads) and soon went on to do her SRN nurse training at Stepping Hill Hospital where her compassion for people shone. By all accountants she was an excellent nurse. Sadly, I never worked with her as she finished her training before I started.

She then went to the Christie Hospital to do her oncology training where she worked for over 20 years. She eventually became an anaesthetic sister in the surgical theatres there. She was very fit in those days and cycled to and from work every day on her sturdy Claud Butler cycle.

Indeed reading, cycling and cooking were her three big loves.

She remained single, never quite finding the woman for her.

She retired early (in 2000) and lived a quiet life reading, writing and searching the family history with her cats Holly and Oliver for company (though more cats came later).