It was a mantra she often spoke, "Oh, don't worry about me", that would guide Gwen's life. Instead, she would worry about others. Whether it was people in her community, students at elementary schools, charities around the world, or her own family, Gwen was always looking to make sure they were taken care of.
It's unlikely that anyone who took her aerobics classes at the North Vancouver Rec Center knew just how seriously she took her craft. The best always make it look easy. But if you watched her behind the scenes, you knew. To pass her certification tests, she studied physiology books, learned CPR and First Aid, and the planning she did for her classes was something else. Armed with a stop watch and a reel-to-reel tape recorder, she would construct mix tapes and routines to go along with each song. She was so proud to be certified and loved teaching the classes that she used to just enjoy attending. In her later years, she got back into attending fitness classes, and thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with all the friends she made there for a cup of coffee after each class.
Maybe the craziest, most physically demanding thing she did was participate in the 24 Hour Relay to benefit the Easter Seals. Though it was grueling, she was raising money for a good cause and had so much fun doing it with her good friend, Margaret Benson (who has, thankfully, continued to triumph over her own health issues).
Putting Others First
Gwen was also an active volunteer at Cloverly and Brooksbank Elementary schools. She worked in the library, but also in the classroom, assisting with and organizing a number of fun events. There wasn't a holiday that would go by without Gwen baking themed cupcakes for her sons' classmates.
She was pretty good at spoiling her kids, too. We know now that it probably made our dad's wallet light enough it could float, but Christmases were a special time for her. She loved shopping for gifts, but the key for her was always the thought behind them. Whenever she saw something in a store, she wondered if this person or that person might like this or find a use for that. What could she think of that would be special to you, that addressed a unique need or fit into just the right category? When she shopped, it was with a purpose and with a thought behind it. She brought a new meaning to "It's the thought that counts" because she was, most certainly, the most thoughtful gift giver we'd ever know.
She loved decorating the house for Christmas - with each passing year fewer and fewer nooks and crannies were without a robotic, singing snowman from Hallmark. And, of course, her Christmas (and Thanksgiving) turkey dinners were a thing of legend. She was always cooking and baking for everyone, but these dinners were the pinnacle - and she enjoyed the end results as much as she did making them for everyone else.
