January 24, 2020
January 24, 2020
Originally posted by Riitta-Liisa Kolehmainen-... on January 23, 2020
The news of Sister Hilary's death just reached me here in Granada, Spain. What special, wonderful memories my family have of her! We got to know her in the early 1980s while living in Bo, Sierra Leone. My husband, Iain, happens to be back in Sierra Leone right now for the first time since we left in 1983. He will not get these sad news until he's back online.
Serabu was where we took our newborn, when she needed a checkup that was more than her two doctor parents could provide. The memories of sitting with Sister Hilary and the other nuns, chatting about the health situation in the country, the challenges - cultural and otherwise - of teaching local nursing staff, reminiscences of days past when Hilary was operating, still in a habit with surgical gowns on top and no air-conditioning... We later moved to Freetown and have a lovely photo of Sister Hilary on our sofa with our two year of Katrina who is pretending to comb her dollie's hair.
The last time we saw Sister Hilary was again a total delight. Iain and I visited Ireland in 2014 and were overjoyed to manage to track her down in Dublin. What a wonderful visit it was with her in her retirement home!
Sister Hilary, you blessed us beyond measure. We miss you and will see you on the other side!
The news of Sister Hilary's death just reached me here in Granada, Spain. What special, wonderful memories my family have of her! We got to know her in the early 1980s while living in Bo, Sierra Leone. My husband, Iain, happens to be back in Sierra Leone right now for the first time since we left in 1983. He will not get these sad news until he's back online.
Serabu was where we took our newborn, when she needed a checkup that was more than her two doctor parents could provide. The memories of sitting with Sister Hilary and the other nuns, chatting about the health situation in the country, the challenges - cultural and otherwise - of teaching local nursing staff, reminiscences of days past when Hilary was operating, still in a habit with surgical gowns on top and no air-conditioning... We later moved to Freetown and have a lovely photo of Sister Hilary on our sofa with our two year of Katrina who is pretending to comb her dollie's hair.
The last time we saw Sister Hilary was again a total delight. Iain and I visited Ireland in 2014 and were overjoyed to manage to track her down in Dublin. What a wonderful visit it was with her in her retirement home!
Sister Hilary, you blessed us beyond measure. We miss you and will see you on the other side!