Going through my mother’s belongings back in Toronto, I find many time capsules in the old photos and documents. Here’s a photo of her with her bestie Rose sometime in the 1960s.

Well, at least one of your two birth dates... we would go to that special place to celebrate, eating congee or laksa...and we would treat ourselves to (tzing toi???) AKA sesame balls. I will go there again...and this time will be sad, thinking of you and how you would order something special in mandarin, and laugh...


For all those memories...I will forever be grateful

Thanks to one of my mother's oldest friends, Ms. Avis Brown, I recently found out what this photo is about. I'd seen it once or twice before, and now I know that this was Mum with her first boss, Mr. Al Rachlin, at Sperry Univac in London. This must have been in the late 1960s, and I just read that Univac was a line of electronic digital stored-program computers, and part of the history of today's Unisys Corporation. Had no idea...

We were so shocked & very saddened by the unexpected news of Stella’s untimely death. It didn’t seem that long ago that I had been in-touch with her while she was still here in Toronto, & had promised to take her to Costco, which she had never visited before & was eager to experience, but with COVID-19’s arrival & the restrictions, it didn’t seem like a good idea. As friends of Spencer’s, we got to know Stella at IanG’s well-hosted brunches, at dinners, & when joining Spencer, Lisa & Aaron at their home for various events, & once Spencer had moved to Asia, meeting-up for dim sum. We came to consider Stella a friend, beyond being Spencer’s mom, someone whose company we enjoyed & valued, with her easy charm, warmth, & wry humour+observations. We were also impressed by her passionate pursuits & accomplishments in weaving & pottery; Stella provided a fine example of how to continue to learn & seek-out challenges throughout one’s life. We know how much Stella’s daily presence will be missed by Spencer, Lisa & Aaron, but give thanks that she was with you all in her final months.

Our deepest condolences to Spencer, Lisa & Aaron, to James, & to Darrell & his family.

With love & affection, Jeff&John

Stella, you always welcomed all of Spencer's friends and joined our gatherings as the cool Mom to all of us.  We adored the special bond you and Spencer had and how that love extended to us.  I'm thinking about the many meals and fun we had together including the ones with Roman and Aaron playing.  We loved seeing you with Spencer, Lisa and Aaron and how much joy they brought to you.  Our favourite picture in the gallery is the one of you in the pool with Spencer and Darrell.   We will cherish the picture Mike & I have with you that is posted in your gallery from when you helped host our baby shower.   

Our deepest sympathy to Spencer, Lisa and Aaron as well as Darrell and his family.  We will miss you dearly and cherish the time we had with you.

Love John, Mike, Roman and Siena  

Auntie stella:
                   當我知道這個消息，我多麼希望這不是真的，我的內心有多麼萬般不捨您。我記得我們第一次見面是在倫敦欣怡的婚禮，我過去跟您交談很愉快也從您身上看到學到很多東西，您是一個有智慧、美貌及魅力的一個女性。我很開心、榮幸能夠跟您成為一家人，因為COVID-19我無法到新加坡送您最後一程我很抱歉，希望您在另外一世界過的很美好，開心