Twelve Weeks in Spring

Sixty-eight year old Margaret Frazer was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in March 1985. A retired school-teacher, she lived alone in Toronto. She had been an outspoken activist for many important causes during her ten years of retirement. Friends and acquaintances of hers, many of whom were strangers to each other, came together to form a supportive community when it was revealed that she would soon die a painful death. They called themselves "Friends of Margaret", or "Margaret's team". These people gave new meaning to words like love and charity by making it possible for Margaret to die at home. That spring, they formed schedules to stay with Margaret in her house; they cooked meals, scrubbed floors, told stories, held hands, faced their own fears of death, formed friendships, and watched an amazing woman die a graceful death. At times I had trouble reading this book because it spared no detail in describing the final, often painful, days of Margaret's life. Perhaps at the best of times this information would have been unsettling to me, but I found it particularly disturbing at the time that I read it because so many of my own fears of death were front and centre. By the time I reached the end of the book, I was grateful that I had persisted in spite of some mixed feelings. For me, reading this book has been uplifting and inspirational. The story of people coming together for someone they love reminded me of the support that converged upon my friend... as she was dying of leukemia. There were round-the-clock contingents of friends and neighbours on the scene to oversee [her] care, there were regular acts of beauty and kindness, and there was a true sense of community. I wonder if someone on [her] team had read Twelve Weeks in Spring and found guidance in its pages. I would like to think people all around the world have benefited from the example set by Margaret Frazer and her team of supporters. Everyone should die surrounded by such love.