Hannah's Memorial

I and 3 of my children drove with another cousin the day of the memorial (a 4+ hour drive) and back home the next day.

It was packed with people and was a very honouring ceremony. I made a mistake about her age; she was actually 23, and her 24th birthday was only a few days after she died. Hannah's mom (my cousin Wendy) told me at a family get-together about 10 years ago that Hannah reminded her of me. She was such a dreamer, always in another world, didn't care what others thought of her. I said in genuine surprise, "I was like that?" Wendy and the rest of the family just laughed! So although I didn't know Hannah all that well due to living at a distance, I did feel a kinship with her. I was also very impressed with Wendy that she was so ahead of the times-- Hannah was an unheard-of name at the time!

Hannah was a math whiz, who grasped difficult new concepts sometimes more quickly than her teachers. Her mom, Wendy, is a math teacher and tells of how when Hannah was in Grade 6, Wendy took her with her to a fourth-year university complex analysis class. "Hannah was completely absorbed in the content of the class, silently transfixed by the professor and his proofs. Afterwards, Hannah was able to give a simple but accurate explanation of what she had heard. The professor was very impressed."

Hannah planned to be a medical doctor and wanted to have a practice in small-town BC where she could get to know her patients and have an impact.

She also wrote a research project forcasting the future demand for Home an dCommunity Care in BC. Her research supervisor wrote, "Her research was critical to the BC Ministry of Health, and the results hae been used to help redesign the Home and Community Care system in BC. I have been contacted several times from other aencies for her research results..."

I had searched our photo albums for all the photos of Hannah that I had taken over the years, and made a number of copies of them for her family. I know they would have already had hundreds but not these exact ones! Some were of her as a newborn. It was very very sad to see them again. Wendy seemed really pleased when I told her I'd put them in her card.

As I've already got them on the computer now, I'll post a couple of them here.








Hannah with her younger sister






Hannah at 21.