The following is a post I made on Facebook - I'm posting it here for those of you who do not Facebook.
Dear friends. I have just heard the news that Charlene has passed away. I'm heartbroken, but have been expecting the call for the last few days. Since about Thursday, she had become unresponsive and was sleeping for most of the day. When I did talk to her, it was very difficult to understand what she was saying and I had been warned that she was showing the signs of letting go.
I first started writing to Charlene in around 2004 when her book store was still open. We were both members of a Terry Pratchett website and she had an advance copy of one of his books. I had visited a store over here where the same book had been put on the shelves two weeks early. So, of the people on that site, we were the first to read it. Our friendship started as a discussion of the book via email and we fell in love through that. I first visited Tucson in 2006 and we got married in 2007. This May was out 10th anniversary. It was around that time that Charlene went into hospital. From there, because of heart problems, she went to a nursing home and finally went to a residential home just a few weeks ago.
Sadly, my own health will not allow me to travel to Tucson, but my heart will always be there. Charlene was the most wonderful person in the world to me. She never judged me or tried to change me. When I wasn't visiting her in Tucson, we were on Skype every day, three times a day. This will mean more to Terry Pratchett fans, but we always said that finding each other was exactly 1 million to one.
I want to thank Rhonda Butterfield and Corinne Haywood, two of Charlene's oldest and dearest friends, for all they have done over the last few months. They both flew a great distance as soon as Charlene went into hospital and they were an amazing team sorting out Charlene's affairs and, especially for finding a residential home where Charlene could be with her beloved cats, Emily and Victoria. Thank you so much Rhonda and Corinne - you guys are awesome.
Rest in peace my darling, my friend, my cariad. You made the last ten years or so, the happiest in my life.
Thank you all for being our friends.
Tony.
Dear friends. I have just heard the news that Charlene has passed away. I'm heartbroken, but have been expecting the call for the last few days. Since about Thursday, she had become unresponsive and was sleeping for most of the day. When I did talk to her, it was very difficult to understand what she was saying and I had been warned that she was showing the signs of letting go.
I first started writing to Charlene in around 2004 when her book store was still open. We were both members of a Terry Pratchett website and she had an advance copy of one of his books. I had visited a store over here where the same book had been put on the shelves two weeks early. So, of the people on that site, we were the first to read it. Our friendship started as a discussion of the book via email and we fell in love through that. I first visited Tucson in 2006 and we got married in 2007. This May was out 10th anniversary. It was around that time that Charlene went into hospital. From there, because of heart problems, she went to a nursing home and finally went to a residential home just a few weeks ago.
Sadly, my own health will not allow me to travel to Tucson, but my heart will always be there. Charlene was the most wonderful person in the world to me. She never judged me or tried to change me. When I wasn't visiting her in Tucson, we were on Skype every day, three times a day. This will mean more to Terry Pratchett fans, but we always said that finding each other was exactly 1 million to one.
I want to thank Rhonda Butterfield and Corinne Haywood, two of Charlene's oldest and dearest friends, for all they have done over the last few months. They both flew a great distance as soon as Charlene went into hospital and they were an amazing team sorting out Charlene's affairs and, especially for finding a residential home where Charlene could be with her beloved cats, Emily and Victoria. Thank you so much Rhonda and Corinne - you guys are awesome.
Rest in peace my darling, my friend, my cariad. You made the last ten years or so, the happiest in my life.
Thank you all for being our friends.
Tony.
