16 Feb Kristin
I have some very sad news to share.
In the early hours of yesterday morning my dear, darling wife Kristin, with whom I built up Wild Bear Lodge and have run it for the last fifteen years, died from cancer. I was with her. She had been without symptoms and her sickness was not diagnosed until a month ago.
As you can imagine I am extremely proud of Kristin, both for what she achieved when she was well and also for the way she carried herself during her last weeks. She was incredibly brave. She was also extremely kind to everyone at the hospital in central London. There was no absolutely fuss at all, no complaining, and she chose not to take visits other than from close family. She instructed the doctors to discontinue treatment when it became clear that they could not save her life, but merely prolong it for a short period.
During her last days the nurses began to come in in to say goodbye to her and some of them left in tears. One of them broke down and threw herself into Kristin’s arms. Even the head doctor, a leading young oncologist, had tears in his eyes.
Even as Kristin’s body was succumbing her mind was clear. Not once did she complain, she expressed no self-pity, and had no fear of death. We talked through many things including the details of what would come next and she was ardent in her desire that the lodge should continue to run and be successful. She said that her proudest achievement was what we had done at the lodge together, realising our wilderness dream, and getting grizzly bear hunting banned in British Columbia.