Nancy's Last Tea Party - Sept 12

Dear family, friends,

Nancy loved a good tea party, and has hosted untold dozens of them. And, she loved to get dressed up, too. So we're combining these as the theme for Nancy's memorial service on September 12 at UBC!

Please come dressed up to honour our beloved Nance, and also, please bring some baking! This idea is inspired by Tracy Tessler, and I must admit to some trepidation in suggesting it...Nancy and I often had these types of discussions, where her magnanimous generosity would want her to provide everything, and not ask for contributions. At the same time, so many people have been asking how they can help, how they can honour Nancy, and this seems so fitting. As you may know, Nancy was a baker extraordinaire, whose legendary brownies and lemon squares and cakes have produced a legacy of blissful smiles and satisfied palates. If you feel inspired to bake or buy something, go for it! Chocolate and lemon were her favourites, but caramel was right up there too...

We are expecting between 400 and 500 people!!

As a reminder:

1. The service will be held on Friday of next week, September 12 at 5:00 pm at UBC: Woodward Instructional Resources Centre - IRC Building at 2194 Health Sciences Mall. You are warmly welcome. The formal part of the service will be done by 6:30, and tea/coffee/baking/cheese & fruit will be served in the foyer afterwards

2. I am collecting photos of Nancy - mainly just to have them and enjoy, but also for potential use at her memorial service on Sept 12. Do you have any favourite shots of her you'd be willing to share? Please send them to me ASAP in as high a resolution as you can by email to ajohnson@wimsey.com

3. Please contribute to Nancy's legacy by donating to the Dr. Nancy Scott Memorial Award for UBC dentistry students: http://memorial.supporting.ubc.ca/dr-nancy-scott/

With love and the fond hope of seeing you on the 12th,

Andrew & Gemma

Call for photos

Dear ones,

I am collecting photos of Nancy - mainly just to have them and enjoy, but also for potential use at her memorial service on Sept 12.

Do you have any favourite shots of her you'd be willing to share? Please send them to me in as high a resolution as you can by email to ajohnson@wimsey.com

Gemma and I are doing OK...and we look forward to seeing many of you on the 12th.

With love,

Andrew

Two things

Hello again,

Many have said that you have not received the information about Nancy's memorial, and also about the opportunity to contribute to her legacy. Here's what you need to know:

1. Nancy's memorial service will be held September 12 at 5:00 pm at UBC: Woodward Instructional Resources Centre - IRC Building at 2194 Health Sciences Mall. You are warmly welcome.

2. Please contribute to Nancy's legacy by donating to the Dr. Nancy Scott Memorial Award for UBC dentistry students: http://memorial.supporting.ubc.ca/dr-nancy-scott/. Alternatively, you can send funds by mail to UBC with cheques payable to ‘UBC Dentistry’ memo ‘Dr. Nancy Scott Award’:

UBC Faculty of Dentistry

Development Team

204-2199 Wesbrook Mall

Vancouver, BC  V6T 1Z3

Nancy's obituary is in today's newspapers (Globe & Mail, Calgary Herald, Vancouver Sun)...I guess it must be true if it's in the papers...

xo, Andrew

Nancy's burial

Hello again,

A number of you have asked me how things unfolded after Nancy's passing.

We kept her at home, and she was washed and dressed by her girlfriends. They also transformed my office into a shrine to Nancy...it was lovely and heartbreaking all at once. Meanwhile, my men worked with me to complete Nancy's casket. The wood is reclaimed old-growth cedar, hundreds of years old. Fitting for such an old soul as Nancy. My mother Constance, brother Martin and sister Marie arrived that evening in time to join a few close people to doodle on Nancy's casket with coloured markers, as she had requested.

On June 7, we had a stunningly beautiful day on Galiano Island, where the cemetery is like a scene from a movie: exquisite, lovely, wooded, on the water's edge, with birds singing above in the canopy. Nancy's spot is in a clearing, with a view to the ocean through the trees.

Teresa Jones had decorated the gravesite with masses of roses that Gillian and Richard had provided, and it looked gorgeous. We set Nancy's casket on the grass, in the shade of a large maple tree, and sat around her on blankets and cushions. Nancy's siblings Paul, David and Olivia doodled on the casket, completing a full coverage of love tributes. Toni and Larry graciously lead the service, consisting of readings, poetry, singing, audience participation, waving, and a lot of kleenex...

We lowered her casket into the ground, and sprinkled her with flowers and soil. Gemma took her shoes off and trod all over the mound of soil that was to cover the grave.

Afterwards, Linda and Robin Heppenstall kindly hosted a luncheon at their lovely new home at the north end of the island, where we spent the afternoon reminiscing and cherishing our magnificent and beautiful soul.

It's only been a bit over two weeks, which feels both like an eternity and no time at all. Right now, her absence is a searing, crushing weight, yet the full richness of her beautiful life is a sweet balm on our grieving hearts.

I am not sure if I will write again in this space. I have a lump in my throat about this, as if writing here is a living thread to her existence. Exiting this space somehow reinforces the finality of her passing. But that is what we are facing now - just as Nancy and I faced this together by holding open the polarities of preparing for the worst while hoping for the best, Gemma and I must now co-create our future together without our beloved soul-mate and mummy. But not entirely without, as Nancy's huge love lives on in our hearts, our minds, our habits. Her enduring legacy is immense, and to sum it up most powerfully, for me, would be this: she showed us how to love. Thank you my love, my one and only.

And thank you to all her friends, her family, who showered her with support of all kinds, and with care and love throughout her illness. Your kindness is imprinted on Gemma's heart, and on mine.

Nancy's memorial service: September 12 at UBC

Dear friends, family,

Thank you for your cards, calls and notes left here on the blog. We feel very supported and surrounded by your care and love, though our hearts are broken, unfathomably.

You are warmly invited to her memorial service.

Here's what appears in tomorrow's Globe & Mail, Calgary Herald, Vancouver Sun and National Post:

NANCY JOHNSON

DR. NANCY SCOTT

Our magnificent, beautiful One passed on June 4, peacefully at home with Andrew & Gemma. She leaves a blazing trail of warm radiance and stunning competence. A gifted dentist to thousands, a beloved and award-winning teacher at UBC, Nancy’s facility to love unlocked all façades. We felt more whole in her presence. Her boundless devotion was mirrored by friends and family who poured forth heroic support in her illness. Our gratitude to you is immense.

Nancy was born in Calgary in 1955 (Ernest Manning High, ’72) where her siblings Clive, Robert, Anthony, Olivia and Paul still live. David is in Squamish BC. She is predeceased by her parents Gordon and Barbara.

A memorial service will be held on Sept 12 at 5:00 pm at UBC: Woodward Instructional Resources Centre - IRC Building at 2194 Health Sciences Mall.

In lieu of flowers, please contribute to her legacy, the Dr. Nancy Scott Memorial Award for UBC dentistry students: http://memorial.supporting.ubc.ca/dr-nancy-scott/

Nancy has passed

Dear friends, family,

My beloved Nancy, my one and only, passed away early this afternoon. It was very peaceful, and mercifully quick, and best of all, she was fully conscious - just as she wanted. She died at home (she came home on Monday), holding my hand, with Gemma right there. She was surrounded by love.

She will be interred on Galiano Island, as she wished, on Saturday, in a casket she asked me to make with the help of friends. This will be a closed event. There will be a memorial service in the coming weeks, and as soon as I have details, I will post them here.

The hallmark of Nancy's life was the kind and warm love she bore for all of us...and as I write these words, I can feel her love enveloping us still. Tonight, the clear sound of her freedom and peace resonate within my heart.

Rivers of gratitude pour forth for you who helped, supported, made meals, kept vigil, prayed, chanted, and most importantly, offered love. Your outpouring is humbling and graciously received, if not always overtly.

This is all for now, but I will write again.

Blessings, love,

Andrew

Friday Update.....

This update is from a friend - Nancy asked me to post so that will know what is happening in her world.
Nancy is still at St. Paul's Hospital.......she is improving everyday.    She will keep you updated.
She loves you all, but she is not ready for visitors.  Please feel free to post your comments on this blog.   She cannot reply to you - but she loves hearing from you.   Nancy says "have a great weekend!"