Eve’s Birch tree

Latin: Betula Polish: Brzoza

Brzozowska is a Polish surname with the root of the word Brzoza - Birch tree. It was also the family name of my closest friend in Scotland. Ewelina and I met in The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland when we were both going to do a Masters Degree. 

Eve was kind and friendly, but also very observant and careful listener. She had a way of getting through people's facade, would notice every twitch of the eyebrow, the specific words someone chose, and would question what was happening beneath the surface. A driven and talented harpist, bright and hard working.

We became friends quick, our Eastern European background and love for all things harp (and vintage 50s style) made for easy and fun chats. She always had my back and would help me at every turn. 

I graduated, she stayed a year longer at school, working part time at the Gaelic school and finishing her degree. 

We were both finding our feet as young professionals. I was planning my wedding, she was preparing for a final recital. 

And then one sunny afternoon she came and she brought me flowers. And told me the horrible news of her breast cancer diagnosis. She was turning 25. And we held each other as we were both crying and scared. 

Hard times were ahead but Eve just kept going, powering through whatever new aspect of her treatment was happening. 

A year later and Eve had put the whole thing behind her. Operations and treatment and all, her hair was slowly growing back and she put on a fantastic solo recital.  Everything was looking up. I was starting an exciting new job I was very passionate about, she had just booked a gig with the SNJO.

And one night I got a text I will never forget. Eve's cancer was back and it had spread rapidly. What she thought was backache was tumors in her bones and lungs. She did not have long left.

She made the best of it. Trips to the zoo and the owl centre. She loved nature and animal; owls, donkeys and elephants the best. She even got to pet an elephant, a lifelong dream. Between harrowing treatment and still somehow managing a performing career, she was still there for me as a friend. Her body was failing left and right but she patiently and sympathetically listened to me complaining of my struggles to conceive. She was beaming when I told her of my happy news eventually, even though she was grieving the children she would never get to have.

On August 17th 2019 at 27 years old, Eve was gone.
She never got to meet my daughter Evelina.
Mine and many other people's lives became poorer and dimmer that day.

Eve's body left for Poland to rest near her family. In Scotland Eve's partner organised a heartfelt memorial. In Eve's memory a bench was put in Muirsheil country park looking over the forest. And a little Birch tree planted on the edge of Castle Semple Loch in Lochwinnoch where she lived. They are both lovely reminders and places we go to connect to our memories of Eve.

When lockdown eased I took baby Evelina to Eve's tree to tell her of her amazing auntie.

And every time I find another Birch tree I am reminded of my gentle friend who bore the last name of the Brzoza.

Nana, the author of this story, on the right, and Eve on the left.