I was so honoured to have met and worked with a Lovely Senior Gentleman in 2023. He was 91 years old and was managing…with help from  Family and my services for driving. I love to hear people’s stories and his went like this…

He was born and raised in London, England (1932) and became a Steam Engineer on large ships. Every year he would study and move up a level in his career by completing the tests and working on these ships as there had to be a certain amount of practical experience.

He soon left England as a young man of 23 to come to Canada. He landed on the East Coast…Toronto to be exact and started his career here again as a Steam Engineer. He met his wife at a dance…they fell in love…and moved to the coast of British Columbia where they had 2 sons.

They all moved to Prince Rupert, BC where he became the Captain of the Weather Ship the Alexander Mackenzie. And when the opportunity came they all moved back to West Vancouver as he took a position at the Port of Vancouver as the Chief Steam Inspector.

He was quite a gentleman who had grace and a charming personality. A lovely person to be around as he was polite to everyone…even the person holding the door for him and his walker. “Thank you pet”..”Thank you dear”. He was a thinker….a tinkerer…an inventor in his spare time.

He had some major complications with his health, and used the MAID services….(Medically Assisted in Dying), to leave this earth.

I have never met someone like him. He was a gem.

Here is the poem he wrote that I will cherish all my days.

PEOPLE

PEOPLE FROM A WORLD OF PLACES,

PEOPLE OF ALL DIFFERENT RACES,

WITH COMPLECTIONS OF EVERY HUE,

AND FEATURES THAT ARE DIFFERNT TOO,

BUT ALL IN ALL THIS AMOUNTS TO NOUGHT,

AS THE ESSENCE OF OUR BEING IS NOT OUR ASPECT BUT OUR THOUGHT,

WE ARE BUT WHAT WE NEED TO BE,

WHEN WEIGHED AND MEASURED PHYSICALLY,

EACH FEATURE IS A HARMONY TO MATCH AND OUTSIDE FORCE,

AND EACH WITHIN A PORTRAIT,

OF WHAT OUR LIFE HAS WROUGHT,

WE COME IN PEACE, LET US GO IN GRACE,

PEOPLE OF THE HUMAN RACE.

Blessings Everyone,

Nancy

My client who is 93 years old was telling me about her chickens. She had a small acreage in Whalley, in Surrey, BC. she had 1000 Chickens! Yes…a 1000.

She had to clean,(had a machine to do that), candle, (make sure there was a yolk and not a small chicken inside), and box these eggs. They were sold to a distributor and they graded the eggs and sold them to stores in the lower mainland.

She received a cheque in the mail for her eggs and got more money if her eggs were Grade A.

She told me she loved the spring as that is when she would receive her new chicks, as they were constantly replacing old laying hens. Of course the order of new chicks always seemed to coincide with Spring and Easter.

All of this, raising a family of 5 Girls, keeping a vegetable garden, a house, a husband, going to lodge and being a good neighbour.

Wow! Amazing history of the Surrey area when it was more agriculture then residential.

What a Woman! She is still very independent and strong. We play tile rummy and she still beats me! I love our Tuesdays together.

What a WONDERFUL DAY working with 3 clients yesterday! Three lovely ladies had their nails and feet cared for while we visited and talked. One of my clients, 83 years old, who lived in England near the Wales border, told me about how she had her 3 children at home! Her second child was born 18 months after her first child. The midwife got her settled for the night stating that “this child will not be born until morning” and set off into the night on her bicycle. My client got the incredible urge to push, told her husband to go and get the midwife…so off he set on his bicycle. The urge was overwhelming and my client pushed and there came her new son. She quickly cleaned him off and got him breathing, and held him till the midwife returned. Amazing, strength and courage!

She also used to work in the pub across the street. she looked after her children during the day, and when her husband came home, he looked after the children when she went to work at the pub. Great stories from her nights there.

Such teamwork! Such love of family! Heartfelt stories shared with love.

Namaste

Our Dearest Mother Dorothy Shawyer:

Dorothy Mary Shawyer lost her 4-year battle with melanoma on December 13, 2014.

She was born in Vancouver General Hospital November 28, 1926, the first child of Robert and Jenny Higgs. Her younger brother, Doug Higgs, passed away in 2010.

After high school, Dorothy graduated from Pitman Secretarial School and began working at the Employment Office.

Pam, her friend from work, set her up on a blind date with Ed Shawyer. They married in September of 1951 and were together until Ed passed away in January 2009.

Daughters Deborah Ann and Nancy Lee were born between 1953-1954 and the family moved to the little house at the corner of 17th and Rupert Street, where Dorothy remained until 2010 when she moved to a nearby independent living residence. There, she passed the time chatting with new friends, enjoying the meals served in the dining room and having no worries about cooking and cleaning, snow on the stairs, or whether there would be a bus strike.

Dorothy spent the 1950’s and 60’s raising Debbie and Nancy, teaching them to cook and making sure they did their homework. In 1970, she went to work at Eaton’s Warehouse at Renfrew and Broadway. Every year she and Ed attended the staff Christmas shopping night at the downtown Eaton’s store and one year Dorothy was fortunate to win the big draw — a trip to Hawaii. And that began her love of the Hawaiian Islands where she and Ed travelled many times, taking a break now and then to visit Vegas and Reno.

Dorothy was a loving mother; a kind, generous and accepting woman; and a stoic and strong person. Although quite shy, her sweet and simple demeanor along with her contagious smile encouraged people to approach her.

She will be missed by all who knew her, but especially her two girls.

~ We hold you in our hearts, warm and safe now Mom. You were the BEST Mom who taught us how to be strong women. We love you Sweetheart ~ Debbie and Nancy.

There will be no services but we ask that friends and family, who are moved to do so, consider sending a donation In Memory of Dorothy Shawyer to the BC Cancer Foundation.

The doctors and staff at the BC Cancer Agency’s Vancouver Centre did everything they could to help Mom fight the melanoma and hospice staff at Peace Arch Hospital took care of her in her last days with compassion and empathy for both Dorothy and her daughters.

online at http://bccancerfoundation.com/ways-donate/gift-memory
by phone at 604.877.6040 or toll free 1.888.906.2873
or by mail: cheque made payable to: BC Cancer Foundation.
BC Cancer Foundation; #150 – 686 West Broadway; Vancouver, BC V5Z 1G1

We have added some new photos to the website chronicaling my Dear Mother’s recent struggle with a re-occuring Melanoma on her leg. In my supporting her with this part of her journey I acknowledged a bunch of different areas where I could be of service to others. Using the Patient Transfer Service, (about $75.00 return trip), to get to Doctors appointments, because of Mom being in a wheelchair. I went as and Attendant to make sure all the correct information was collected and written down in our “Doctor Book“, provide a packed lunch, (Egg Salad Sandwich on Brown Bread, Sliced Apple and Water), and generally “be there” so my Mother did not feel all alone and scared.

There are many custom ways in which my services can be of help to clients going through health concerns and to support the family on a  whole to stay informed of what Doctors say and help their loved ones feel that someone is there with their best intentions in mind.

Sending Love from my Family to Yours,
Nancy Bussey / Owner