Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2022 07:39:45 -0700
Subject: sad news
From: David Bacon 

I am very sorry to say that our darling Jennifer passed away last night at
9:20 in Penticton.

The end really came too quickly.  I had hoped we might have a few more
weeks for reminiscing and such.  She was bright and cheerful and active
on Tuesday.  But then yesterday sometime before 1 a.m., she awoke in
dreadful and unprecedented pain, which the usual meds were not able to
overcome.  Around 5 or so, after we had talked to a palliative care nurse,
Jen decided she needed to be taken to the hospital.  She was there by 7 by
ambulance, and spent the next few hours in the ER.  She managed to make one
brief phone call to me during that time (at 2:20 p.m., I see) to say that
she was to be transferred to the hospice beside the Penticton hospital, so
that her meds could be closely monitored and managed.  She was struggling
but still cogent at that stage.  But the next phone call was from the
hospice around 5:30 p.m. to tell me that she had arrived there around 5,
and that things were looking pretty bad.  Visiting hours officially ended
at 6, but I was welcome to come in.  So left the puppies safely parked in
the living room, and sped down there.  Jen was at that point still quite
responsive to touch and sound, but did not seem able to articulate any
words.  The best moment was shortly after I arrived, when I took her hand
and said, "I'm here now, Jen", and she briefly opened her lovely eyes and
flashed that charming smile of hers.  After somewhere close to 3 hours, she
seemed relatively comfortable though not really conscious, so I thought it
was time to dash home and check on the puppies.  I grabbed a quick bite and
some fresh clothes, and as I was about to bundle the pups into the car
(which was by then cool enough), I got another call from the hospice
suggesting that I should probably hurry up if I could.  And indeed by the
time I got there, just after 9:30, she was very much at peace, looking as
sweet and noble as we all who love her know her to be to the very depths of
her being.

I would ask those of you who were planning to travel here to visit this
month to cancel those plans.  I love you all dearly, but there is of course
a big pile of details that need to be taken care of now, and I'm afraid
that extra company would be more of a distraction than a help.  I do want
us to stay in constant touch, though.

The Subject line of this email says "sad news" because that's how I feel
about it.  But Jen was adamant to the end that we look at how she spent her
life, and rejoice in that.

Yours in sorrow and laughter, then,

  dB