Wellness and Cancer Treatment

Leonard was born on the Isle of Man in 1923. During the WWII he became a correspondent with the British army following the allied advance across Europe to Berlin. After the trials at Nuremburg he came to America and began a career as a photographer that spanned essays on a cowboy in Texas to the Apollo moon launch. Gertrude was born in a small town northern Germany in 1930. The war years were very lean. Food and fuel for heat became sparse. After experiencing the generosity of the Americans during liberation in 1945 her dream was to come to America and travel the world. Hope, years of waiting, and luck led to a visa. She came to New York as an au pair. She didn’t stop with her dream. Gertrude enrolled in flight attendant school in the dawn of the jet age. There were flights to Rio, Paris, Beirut, and South Africa. Leonard met Gertrude met while he was doing an essay on Pan American Airlines. Eventually they married and settled on a farm in Riverhead Long Island, Briemere Farms.

Gertrude was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2014. Leonard cared for her and declined suddenly with possible complications from mesothelioma. Gertrude died in 2018. Her treatment was difficult and often painful. Her spirit kept her going. She realized she had the best care possible with tremendous support from family and her doctor. Very often though, she saw fellow patients undergoing treatment who were bewildered and alone. She wanted to help them.

Her wish was to have cancer patients treated with much love. It felt that walking into a steel and glass corporate cancer center where a patient was practically told, “we’re giving you a number and taking away your name.” stripped the dignity from someone struggling with the notion of cancer gnawing at their strength.