It is rare in life to meet someone who inspires you to be a better person. But this was a trait that the Cropper family, perhaps unknowingly, bestowed on those fortunate enough to meet them. I, for one, have been luckier than most; to have been blessed by the friendship of Angela, her husband John, and her son Dev. All three of them have altered my life in fundamental and indescribable ways and I miss them as keenly as one misses a limb. The world is a darker place for Angela's loss, but I hope - in the spirit of Diwali - that Angela has been reunited in the light with her husband and son. This is my comfort. I was first introduced Angela in a time of great joy when her son Dev - my boyfriend, muse and best friend - took me to New York to meet his parents. While Angela was then based at the UN, John flew in especially from Trinidad & Tobago to join us for a weekend of getting to know each other, which was filled with fun, debate and much laughter. Angela was the most carefree and happy I'd ever seen her; her warmth, humour and kindness – characteristics she shared with John - enveloped me from the beginning. Angela deeply loved her family, and as Dev's friend, she generously extended her welcome to me (and I later learned, to all those whom she met). The second time I met Angela was during a period in which the world had crashed in around our heads. Dev - Angela's only child - had died suddenly in my arms one night in London during the wee hours of darkness - a darkness that didn't lift for some years to come. Angela and John flew to London immediately, and as Angela took me and held me in her arms - us both numb with shock - she offered me her strength and courage as a mountain to lean on (when everything seemed to be collapsing); and not only me, but to everyone who was trying to make sense of Dev's loss. For the weeks, months and years to come Angela's resilience and fortitude - combined with her kindness and generosity - were a balm to our broken hearts. All of Dev's friends - myself included - became awed by, and indebted to, this wonderful woman who put her grieving aside to teach us to celebrate Dev's life instead of mourn his death, to build friendships and love on the soil of his grave, and to give back to the world what Dev had given us. In short, Angela and John honoured their son by giving others a future to live for. And astonishingly, despite the loss of her son, and shortly after her husband, mother and dear sister Mattie, Angela transformed her heartache into something positive: a (continued) sincere and selfless desire to help those in need. She accomplished this in a dizzying array of settings - through the Cropper Foundation, her time in Parliament in Trinidad & Tobago, and her inspirational work on sustainable development in numerous global organisations. Angela was a pioneer and a visionary; a fiercely intelligent, committed and compassionate international civil servant; a daughter, wife, sister, aunt, mother; a beacon of hope to those who have, at times, been desperately hopeless. But for me, and for many others who will honour her memory, Angela was a friend who truly cared; who believed in people and in the innate goodness and power of humanity, and for that we have much to learn and to celebrate.