Hazel

10 May 1948 - 14 September 1998

Two emails to friends in California, at the beginning of the last remission, which was to last fifteen months, a precious time, in retrospect.

From bobm Mon Sep 2 09:53:28 1996
To: Nanjclark@aol.com
Date: Mon, 2 Sep 1996 09:53:28 +1100 (E )

> >Hello Rob. Steve and I have a new e-mail address. Hope this works. Nancy >

Welcome back -- I'll miss the plaintive bounce from Compuserve as I vainly include the jokes to you anyway.

Hazel's finished the chemo and is feeling pretty good -- she's on some kind of continuing medication, which reduces the vigour of the little osteoclasts, the cancerous cells that eat away at bones, given that some escaped the chemo. If they come back en masse, then there's still taxol and associated chemo. Lest I give the wrong impression: she's up and active, and her hair is growing back.

Two weeks ago it snowed in the mountains, and we took off a Tuesday and went up just for the day to throw snowballs and build snowmen* -- we were a day late for tobogganing (which we last did at Tahoe with Steve and Millie). We were up there over the weekend too, when a violent storm hit Sydney and surrounds (we got 4" in three days, of rain, that is) and the power went out nearby, but not fortunately at Dargan, where we'd be stuffed: electric cooking, electric fan for the gas central heating, even an electric pump from the rain tank.

* snowpersons?

My favourite joke of the past few weeks is:

Pinnochio kept hearing complaints from his girlfriend about consumating their passions. "Every time we make love", she said, "I get splinters". So he went back to his maker, Gipetto, the carpenter, to ask his advice.

"Sandpaper, my boy, that's what you need", was the carpenter's response.

A couple of weeks later the carpenter met Pinnochio, "How are you getting on with the girls now?" he asked

"Who needs girls?" smiled Pinnochio.

Keep well, love

Bob

And a few days later ...

From bobm Sat Sep 7 23:52:45 1996
Subject: Hello from our mountain house.
To: nanjclark@aol.com (Nancy Clark)
Date: Sat, 7 Sep 1996 23:52:45 +1100 (E )

It's 11:30 pm and blowing a gale outside, but clear. Zoë is off for the weekend with a friend, and son has a friend here instead. Hazel is sitting in front of the fire struggling with our photos of the past 2.5 years, including some of my trips to Calif in 1995 -- she noticed your curtains, and asked how the place looked now. Often, when we're driving up here (2 hours from home), I think about what I'll show you when you visit. Hope I get the chance soonish. Not sure whether I'll be through in Jan -- we were discussing what the family will do in early Jan/Dec earlier tonight. Hazel has just pointed out a photo of you both doing high kicks at Lake Lagunita as Millie looks on. Talking of Millie, we're toying with the idea of finally getting a dog for the kids. Hazel hopes you're not working too hard, Nancy.

Recent news is that a researcher from the MIT AI Lab with more money and time than I have is coming out to interview me sometime before Christmas.

What of you two?

Thinking of you often,

Bob & Hazel

In the meantime, please feel free to email me, Robert.

---

| Up |
Last Updated 5 March 1999