Former beauty queen, Helen Prest-Ajayi is a year older today. She clocks 61.

Since the demise of her late husband, Dr Tosin Ajayi, this is the first birthday she is celebrating without him in 25 years. And has been reminiscing on their times together.

In a post on her Instagram page early on Thursday, the lawyer and writer described her late husband as ‘a real man, in every sense of the word.’

She recalled that birthdays were always full of surprises, partly because she never remembers and partly because of the expensive gifts he bought for her., adding that she would gladly have loved to have him celebrate with her today and to receive any one of any type of present from him.

Helen then urged all to cherish every moment you have with your loved one, even the annoying ones.

Here is her post: “I woke up this morning and realised that this is the first birthday I will spend without my husband in 25 years.

“His quiet demeanor and unassuming look outwardly belied the fact that he was e-x-t-r-a as my daughters would say. He did everything with passion and then some. His motto was “What is worth doing, is worth doing to EXCESS!” My husband was a REAL MAN, in every sense of the word. Full of testosterone in everything he did. Everything was big and bold, but very loving.

“My birthdays were always full of surprises. Partly because I would never remember (like today, I just remembered) and partly because of the gifts he would buy. For years he would always buy me a Hermès bag, a most expensive one, but not a popular recognisable one with their logo, so you wouldn’t know. I would be happy when I saw the orange box, then slightly (ever so slightly) peeved that it wasn’t one of the popular ones with the. When I would point it out to him. He would say” but this one is far more expensive” and show me the receipt, then end the conversation saying nonchalantly. “What does it matter? What is most important is that YOU know.”

“Gadgets were another popular choice (very manly), I possess every type of electronic gadget on the planet. Especially phones. The other day I asked the price of an HTC phone one of his favourite gifts to me. When they told me I almost passed out, “Whaaaat!!!” I had always assumed they were a couple of hundred £’s maybe three at the most. That’s the value I ascribed to a phone in my mind, but over £1000 for a phone?

“I’ve been going through quite a few surprises like that lately. I’m thinking how I would gladly love to have him celebrate with me today and to receive any one of any type of present from him.

“I am writing this to remind everyone to cherish every moment you have with your loved one, even the annoying ones. Remember everything is done in love, it may be deep deep down, and you may not understand it in the moment, but it truly is.

“Whenever we quarrelled he would always end it with “Helen I love you, I will always love you, I’m with you, that’s all that matters. It takes death to realise that truly that’s all that matters.”