ELEANOR SAUNDERS
I am one of Nancy's old colleagues from Charles River Hospital and wanted to convey my deep sympathy to you about her passing. She obviously fought long and hard to recover, and, I hope, went in peace. Thank you so much for sharing with us all the news about her -- both good and sad -- during your visits and now. It was heartening to know that loving family and friends were able to be there so much of the time and that she was able to derive great comfort from your presence and theirs.
Nancy has a special place in my heart, and my husband's, because it was on a trip with her the summer before she left Boston that my husband and I met. She had wanted to visit places in New England that she loved before returning to Chattanooga, and we made plans to go to the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood in western Massachusetts. We hadn't been able to get a reservation at the inn where Nancy had originally hoped to stay, but that inn recommended another place nearby, where they gave guests the option of having dinner on concert nights. The meals were served at long tables on a patio by a lovely stream, and my husband was one of the other guests. He and I had struck up a conversation while waiting for dinner to be served. With tack and graciousness, Nancy kept the other people at our table engaged in conversation, giving Jim and me more of a chance to talk and get to know one another. So we have always considered her the guardian angel who helped us begin our life together. For that and many other reasons during our years of working together, her memory will remain vivid for me.
Again, my condolences, but also my certainty that you have had many, many wonderful times with Nancy to cherish and be grateful for.
Eleanor Saunders
