Enrique (Henry) Kierulf was one of the wonderful friends Gwenda and the gang made while they were nursing in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the sort of friend everyone wants: reliable, helpful, good-natured, generous. When Gwenda, Pat, Molly, Maureen and Celia left Cleveland to explore the rest of the USA – as well as parts of Canada and Mexico – Enrique was the one who forwarded the mail they continued to receive from home. Thirty years later, I stayed with him and his wife Barbara at their home in Toledo, Ohio, when I did some travelling in the USA myself, and was welcomed like a daughter. Sadly, Barbara died not long after that, but Enrique became a firm friend of all the family, and we would meet several times over the following years, both in the UK and the USA.

Years later, after Enrique’s death, I sent a copy of Bedpans & Bobby Socks to his younger brother, Rick, and we corresponded for a while. Some time after his death, Rick’s daughter Jackie got in touch with me. Jackie, who grew up in Canada, is a writer too. (See some of her lovely writing on her blog, Cherishing the Death Process.) This summer, we met for the first time when she was in the UK before travelling to Ireland for a pilgrimage. It was one of those instances when you feel as if you’ve known someone all your life, and we spent a wonderful few hours talking about everything under the sun, including the people who had brought us together in the first place. (It was a boiling hot day, hence our glowing faces in the photo below!) I’m sure Enrique and Barbara as well as Jackie’s parents would be happy to know that the friendships have continued through the generations. 

Gwenda, Enrique, Pat and other friends With Jackie, summer 2025My friend Enrique