I climbed into bed with my partner — then he stopped breathing
Share:
For years, Isabella Day attended craft classes, learning to perfect her skills as a jeweller. One afternoon, in 2017, she had the fleeting thought that the teacher she’d been learning from for years, Ford Hallam, smelt lovely. It was then that the realisation dawned on her: she’d fallen in love.
As Isabella, 51, says ‘It wasn’t the plan but it was okay, because he’s fallen in love with me too.’. The pair spent seven ‘pretty perfect’ years together, until tragedy struck. Devastatingly, Ford passed away earlier this year. It means that Isabella, who has always loved this time of year, will be spending her first Christmas without him.
She tells Metro: ‘If the grief I feel now is the price I pay for the happiness I had with Ford, I wouldn’t switch it, even if this Christmas season feels overwhelming.’. Isabella, a respected jeweller and goldsmith, met life partner Ford, also a renowned artist, in 2013. She had been researching a specific craft technique, when she Googled and found videos of Ford demonstrating it.
She didn’t know it then, but her life was about to change. Isabella says: ‘I immediately felt I had to go and meet him.’. After that first spark of romance in 2017, Isabella and Ford took the mature approach – they had a conversation about their feelings for each other, and embarked upon a relationship.
‘We were very clear about what we needed from each other,’ she says. Isabella moved to Devon from her native Birmingham to be with Ford, and alongside her own business, began documenting his work. He wanted to share his skills online, for free, to help other pupils learn.
