I am saddened to report that Nancy, a Cornbury member since 2004, has been diagnosed with cancer which is spreading with no way to stop it.
I first met Nancy as a result of noticing that two Cornbury members were born in the same year - 1923! I thought they would enjoy talking to each other and first contacted them separately and then gave them each other's email address.
A while later, we arranged to meet. Since she lives on Vancouver Island and I live in South Surrey, we decided to meet at the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay. We found a nice restaurant to have lunch and we had good time getting to know one another.
A further meeting was scheduled and we did it again. One of Nancy's concerns was with her transgendered literature that she had accumulated and wanted to be "out of the house" and was hoping to find someone to be able to clean up after her passing.
The next time we met, it was the other way 'round - I went to Duke Point to meet her and I also invited Carma along to see whether she could be Nancy's "cleanup girl". Nancy took us to the first established pub in BC! While we had a great time, conversation was somewhat limited due to the closeness of other pub guests.
Later, Karen invited us all to her summer cottage in Ladysmith. Karen is a friend of Carma's and I had also met her at Esprit. The three of us had a great afternoon together. Carma picked me up at Duke Point (this was my first trip on the ferry, en femme) and then Nancy took me back to the ferry which, unfortunately, left at 8:15 which didn't give us much time after supper.
We met several times after that but Nancy hasn't been able to make the last two times. She was first diagnosed as having cancer and went to Victoria to undergo chemo but while the initial results looked promising, the cancer has now spread with no way of stopping it.
Karen and Vicki (another Island girl I met there) have removed the literature that Nancy has which has removed a big worry from her mind.
May you all include her in your prayers
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Update
Nancy passed away peacefully in her sleep the night before last.
She was pleased that she was able to remove all evidence of Nancy from her home as she really didn't want her family to find out.
Karen, Carma and I visited Joy (Nancy's wife) a couple of days earlier and while we would have liked to visit Nancy as well, she had been moved to palliative care and her family were with her most of the time. Joy enjoyed our visit immensely. We visited for nearly 3 hors, having lunch together before we left.
A celebration of Nancy's life will be held shortly but I don't expect to go as I have no idea how I'd identify myself (in either mode).
Our thoughts are with you
Hey Joy:
I never met Nancy but by all accounts she was a pretty special friend of yours. You added a lot to each others' lives - what a wonderful gift to be thankful for.
Steph and Lo
A Visit to Vancouver Island
My friend Karen from Vancouver Island (who I met at a previous Esprit) invited me and Carma over for the day yesterday. She has been doing this for a while now and we have a good time together, meeting at her summer cabin in Ladysmith which is right on the water. I get to ride the ferry dressed (and this, time, even free because I now have my Gold card).
We were planning on going to visit Nancy but she had already moved to palliative care and with her family sitting with her all day, we didn't get a chance to meet and talk with her. But we did go up and visit her wife, Joy and she was very pleased that we came. We brought wine and lunch and spent almost 3 hours with her.
She says that Nancy is in as good a spirit as one could expect and that she is being well taken care of.