Mary Forrest George  ~  Elizabeth Thornton

Mary died on July 12, 2010 at Victoria General Hospital. She was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, on January 24, 1940.

She leaves to mourn, Forbes, her beloved husband of 51 years, her three sons, Stephen, (Valerie), Peter (Tamara), Tom (Dan), and grandchildren Kaitlin, Megan, Robert, Nicholas, and Zoë.

Mary was a woman of many gifts. She was a primary school teacher in Scotland, started her own nursery school in Aberdeen, then, on coming to Canada, continued her career in education by teaching elementary school for some years. Always active in her church, she became Pastoral Assistant in First Presbyterian Church, Winnipeg, a position she said was the “best job ever!” She left this position after eleven years to become a full-time writer. One of her passions was history which she nurtured by earning an Honours Classics degree at the University of Winnipeg and by becoming Classics Gold Medalist. Her love of history was also revealed in the twenty-seven historical romance novels she wrote that were published under the pen-name, Elizabeth Thornton, her mother’s name, gaining her a reputation as an international best-selling author.

Above all these career successes, however, what shone through in her life was her love for her family: her husband and her three sons, their respective partners and her five grandchildren. Mary was for many years an active elder in First Presbyterian Church, a church and people she loved.

Our heartfelt thanks go to Doctors Griffin and Paul, nurses Dana and Suzanne, and all the staff of 4 South at Victoria General Hospital.

Please, no flowers, but donations may be made in Mary’s memory to the Canadian Liver Foundation or the Winnipeg Humane Society.

Respecting her wishes, cremation has taken place and a memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 62 Picardy Place, Winnipeg, R3G 0X6, on Friday, July 16 at 11:00 AM. The Rev. Dr. Bruce Miles officiating.

Well, it’s been a rough six months! But, at long last, I have a proper diagnosis for what’s been ailing me. It turns out that the menace who has been silently and slyly attacking my liver is no less than my own body, my immune system, to be exact.

I have what is called an auto-immune disease: primary biliary cirrhosis. It apparently has been with me for a long time now (who knew?), and is the cause of all kinds of problems—loss of balance, bloating, osteoporosis, and fatigue.

It’s not as bad as it sounds, and I have excellent care from all my caregivers (medics, etc.) and three excellent specialists who seem to know what they’re doing. My husband is my primary caregiver on all official forms. What that means is that he is chief chauffeur, cook, bottle washer, etc. In short, I’m getting the best of care.

I’m blogging on this because I find I can’t respond to everyone who has written to me, either by e-mail or card or phone. I’m doing okay.

Some advice: if you’re a female, ask your doctor to test your liver function at your next annual check-up and every year thereafter. It’s not a blood test that’s done automatically for females in Canada.

Meantime, I’m looking forward to my next book, A Bewitching Bride, due out in November from Berkley, and my head is filled with ideas for the book after that.

I thought it was about time I explained by long silence on this blog.

The reason - my health!

Since late October I have been quite ill, including three days in hospital Emergency and a plethora of hospital, doctor and lab tests. I’m not going to go into details of my illness. Suffice to say, I seem to be on the mend now and provided I can maintain a balance with my diet, medication and exercise, I hope to get back into my writing life.

I did manage to get my last book, Bewitching Bride, off to my editor in mid-January. Big relief!

And now that I am on the mend, I am already getting a plot together for my next book. It feels good!

I look forward to hearing from you!

Where has the year gone? Here it is near the end of October and I’m stunned by the speed of events around me.

Here’s a list of what occupies my mind these days:

• I’m still dealing with the death of a close friend from cancer a few weeks ago. I felt shattered. That’s a real biggie with long lasting effects.
• It’s October 22 and the leaves are mainly green and still on the trees. Our brilliant fall yellows, browns and reds haven’t materialized this year. Many trees seem to have gone gray and some leaves are even black. What is going on? Is this the result of global warming? Temperatures are either above normal or below normal for this time of year. What happened to just plain normal?
• My broken wrist is healing. I’m doing my exercises but it’s not all plain sailing. It sometimes feels like the return to normal takes one step back for every two forward. Now they tell me that it may take up to eight months for the wrist to return to normal. Ouch!
• Because of the semi-warm temperatures outside, our thermostat in the house finds it hard to keep me warm enough when it goes down to -6 at night and up to 9 above next day. I say the house is cold and my husband  says the house is too warm. He tells me it’s just the thermostat playing games at this time of year.  I’m thinking it’s the men-are-from-Mars/women-are-from-Venus thing! He says wear a sweater and I say put the heat up! Grrr!

Okay, that’s my moan list. And my “+” list?

• My eldest son went back to university after many years in the workforce and just graduated with an academic excellence award. Wow!
• My eldest granddaughter has gone back to university after a year’s absence and loves it. Way to go!
• My husband has learned to cook some really delicious meals so I feel well nourished these days.
• I’m coming to the end of this novel-in-progress. I can actually see the end in sight. That’s a real plus! I call it “racing for the curtain,” the time when the romance and the intrigue come together in a satisfying, electrifying climax. And my characters come to the “happily every after” ending – at least the hero and heroine do. Now the villain . . . well, he or she (I’m not going to tell you which!) comes to a satisfying end - not for him/her, but for the reader! And the author!

Now, now, not what you’re thinking!

This is a date with the doctor at the Sports Injury Clinic to have my cast removed - Tuesday, September 1.

This clinic, the Pan Am Sports Injury Clinic in Winnipeg, is absolutely outstanding - from the moment you set foot in the door till you leave after having been through triage, the doctor ’s examination, then the x-rays, then the doctor again, then the adjustments, the cast, more x-rays . . . it all moves like clockwork. They are great!

But . . . I can hardly wait. It will be five weeks when the cast is finally removed. It feels like five months.

Having this cast on my left arm for the two broken bones in my wrist has been a learning experience. Who knew a person needed two hands to pull up pants, fasten a bra, cut meat, make the coffee . . . the list goes on and on. I’d never given it a thought before. Luckily I have a husband who has a good left hand for that kind of thing. What do people do when they have no one? As you can see from this, however, I am getting back the use of my left hand - fingers much more flexible though not much strength yet.

I am truly an impatient patient!!!! What would I be like if I had something really wrong with me? I shudder to think!

I just watched Sense and Sensibility (again - for the umpteenth time!) with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. I absolutely love it. But, despite all the times I’ve watched it I learned something new. As I watched Mr. and Mrs. Palmer played by Hugh Laurie  and Imelda Straunton, I suddenly realized who they were ( or who they had become)  - Dr. Gregory House from the House TV series and Dolores Umbridge from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. How could I have missed that??? They are wonderful in all their roles.

A new review of The Scot and I is up at bestfiction.com. You can read it at bestfiction.com.

You might want to visit FreshFiction.com tomorrow, July 31.  The Scot and I was chosen to be a Fresh Pick at Fresh Fiction. You can find it at freshfiction.com.

And still more - l received an e-mail from likesbooks.com about one of my  earlier books: the classic story, Cherished, has been reviewed on our website today and received a DIK (desert isle keeper) rating. You can read all about it at likesbooks.com. 

Finally . . . I am sporting a cast! I tripped and fell in my garden on Sunday and fractured two bones in my left wrist. So, I’m not a happy camper (or a happy gardener)!! Still painful and still awkward - so many things require two hands. How do people manage on their own?

.

Sissy: There is only one vampire romance that, so far, I have loved, and that is the Twilight Series. Who could not be moved by Edward’s assertion - “I don’t want to be a monster”? Bella’s faith in him is mind-boggling. The conflict that seems insoluble, that he is a vampire and she is a human, is all beautifully worked out.

The fantasy part of the novels, the legends, the werewolves, Edward’s family, the Volturi and the rogue vampires keep things moving along nicely and test our lovers to the limit of their love.

There are no step-by-step instruction to making love here. The sex is suppressed and so much more intense because of it. That’s how I like it.

I’m just back from my holiday in Toronto. More on that later.

My husband and I will be in Toronto for the next two weeks to see our youngest son and his family and to celebrate our granddaughter’s birthday.

On Thursday, June 25/09, I’ll be a guest blogger on freshfiction.com. Join me if you can.

I heard last week from a close friend that she has cancer and it seems to have spread to more than one site. I am devastated. She is super-conscious of health issues – careful of her diet, exercises regularly — yoga, Reiki, meditation . . . and now this!

I feel very vulnerable. Is there any hope for our human condition?

I think it is this sense of vulnerability that made me go out yesterday and buy the newly released book, Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health by  Rick Smith and Bruce Lourie. Haven’t started reading yet.

But I do wonder . . . will I feel more hopeful or more depressed after reading this book??