For those of you who remember Gwen Kelly, Nora wanted you to know that we have received a letter from her daughter Shauna. She said that she posted it here, but asked me to check. I don't see it, but that is no surprise, as Google has been acting up all week. In any case, I am including Shauna's note in the body of this post. I am sure that you join with me in sadness at this time.
(Shauna's note to Nora follows)
Nora
I am writing to let you know--and I hope you will let the other yarners know--that my mother, Gwen Kelly, died unexpectedtly from a cerebral haemorrage very on Tuesday morning.
On Monday afternoon she was about to get into the car to take my father to a doctor's appointment when she collapsed. She was taken to a local hospital and later to another hospital. Neurosurgeons concluded that she was not stable enough for surgery. She later had several other haemorrages. My sister and I flew from Melbourne to the Gold Coast (from where I am writing) and we were with her when the respirator was turned off. She was in a coma, she could feel nothing, and died peacefully and painlessly.
The funeral will be held on the Gold Coast this Friday morning.
This has been a sudden shock for my sister and I. My father, as you know, has been ill with cancer for several months. My mother was in quite good health, and only a few days ago was pleased to have learned that my father was in remission.
You and the other Yarners have been an incredibly important part of my mother's life in recent years. You cannot underestimate the extent to which being part of such a group has opened up her life, brought her new friends and contacts all over the world, and given her a real way of communicating, without leaving home. To give you an idea, I can see on her computer what emails she sent on the morning of the day she died. She sent 9 emails. 7 of them were to names I recognize as Yarners. When she was ill, you were there for her. When my father was ill, you were there for her. You had become her online family, and I delighted in hearing her stories about you all. I can see a wonderful Afghan on her bed, and cards from yarners on the window near the dining table. You filled her life.
Shauna Kelly