Program from Nancy's Celebration

Here is the program from Nancy's memorial service. Picture it as one piece of paper folded in half. The triangle images are from the totem that Nancy worked on while pursuing treatment for her brain tumor. Each triangle represents a member of her family.

Front cover:

Inside left-hand page:

Inside right-hand page:

Back cover:

Poems and prayers from Nancy's celebration

We seem to give them back to Thee, 0 God who gavest them to us.
Yet as Thou didst not lose them in giving,
So do we not lose them by their return.
Not as the world giveth, givest Thou 0 Lover of souls.
What Thou givest Thou takest not away,
For what is Thine is ours also if we are thine.
And life is eternal and love is immortal,
And death is only a horizon,
And a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.
Lift us up, strong Son of God that we may see further;
Cleanse our eyes that we may see more clearly;
Draw us closer to Thyself
That we may know ourselves to be nearer to our loved ones who are with Thee.
And while Thou dost prepare a place for us, prepare us also for that happy
place,
That where Thou art we may be also for evermore.

--Bishop Brent
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A long time I have lived with you
And now we must be going
Separately to be together.
Perhaps I shall be the wind
To blur your smooth waters
So that you do not see your face too much.
Perhaps I shall be the star
To guide your uncertain wings
So that you have direction in the night.
Perhaps I shall be the fire
To separate your thoughts
So that you do not give up.
Perhaps I shall be the rain
To open up the earth
So that your seed may fall.
Perhaps I shall be the snow
To let your blossoms sleep
So that you may bloom in the spring.
Perhaps I shall be the stream
To play a song on the rock
So that you are not alone.
Perhaps I shall be a new mountain
So that you always have a home.

--Nancy Wood

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We go from whence we came
We came from whence we go.
With love to guide us here
To be love there.
Perched above all that sustained us—
In dawn’s breaking light.
Go to the light.
Be love.

--David Ahmann

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If I should die (and die I must) please let it be in Spring
When I, and the life up-budding shall be one,
And green and lovely things shall blend with all I was
And all I hope to be.
The chemistry
Of miracle within the heart of love and life abundant
Shall be mine, and I shall pluck the star-dust and shall know
The mystery within the blade,
And sing the wind’s song in the softness of the flowered glade.
April is the time for parting, not because all nature’s tears
Presage the blooming time of May.
But joyous should be death and its adventure
As night gives way to day.

--George C. Whitney

Gabriel's tribute to Nancy

The Master in the art of living
Makes little distinction between
His work and his play, his labor
And his leisure, his mind and his
Body, his education and his recreation,
His love and his religion. He hardly knows
Which is which. He simply pursues his
Vision of excellence in whatever he does,
Leaving others to decide whether he
Is working or playing. To him he is always
Doing both.

G: 2 years ago, Nancy returned to work after her first surgery. She shared this Zen Buddhist text with me and told me this is how to live life. And I thought to myself – She is the master in the art of living. Nancy’s vision, her passion, and her dedication to M Retirement was not just work – it was her play. I have had the extreme pleasure of having Nancy in my life for over 9 years. She has mentored me as an OT and as a leader. She has guided me as a mother and a friend. And I am forever grateful for that.

Nancy joined the M Retirement family over 10 years ago, and we have a million stories we could share with you today. But for the sake of time, we will keep it brief.

M: Nancy’s forward-thinking vision developed many successful programs at M Retirement such as: a highly reputable inpatient and outpatient rehab, a state of the art Aquatic and Wellness Center, the exclusive and innovative HipHab program, and a Wellness philosophy across the campus. These are just a few of her tangible contributions that have improved the lives of our residents and staff.

We are so grateful to Nancy for giving M Retirement these things, but more than that, we are forever grateful for the intangibles she left with us.

Nancy was our rock. One particular time, Gabriel and I went to talk with Nancy in her office about our work frustrations. She was incredibly supportive, encouraging, and motivating, as she was for all of us. Later that week, she gave us a picture of a mountain with the word “Perseverance” along the bottom with the saying “We can conquer every challenge by taking it one step at a time.” She drew in stick figures of Gabriel and me climbing the mountain – and that is what she inspired everyone to do – to climb the mountain, embrace the challenge and overcome.


M: Over the past two years, we have had several gatherings to pray for Nancy and share Nancy stories that are special to us. Some common characteristics that will stay with us forever are:

Her smile.
Her laughter.
Her clicky shoes as she entered the therapy clinic.
Her dancing.
Her smile.
Her drumming.
Her positive energy.
Her French speak.
Her smile.
Her passion.
Her vision.
Her dedication.
Her Smile
Her Children
Her sayings:
“That’s HUGE”
“Therapy, Nancy”
“It’s a gift”
“Tell me if I should take this personally”
“If Abraham Lincoln could free the slaves, we can do this….”
“Oh, Jesus, Mary, Joseph”
“Girlfriend”

G: We are so blessed to have had Nancy in our lives. We are so honored to be a part of this celebration today. Nancy’s spirit, vision and passion guides every one of us and strengthens who were are and how we live.

And Nanc-“that’s the scoop-hoola hoop”

We love you forever.

Bob and Sally's tribute

After Dave asked me to stand up and say a few words about Nancy on behalf of her community of friends, I struggled a bit with how best to bring a voice to that community. So Sally and I put our heads and our hearts together, and came up with the idea of writing an open letter to Nancy from “her friends.” This is the letter I will now read.

Dear Nancy:
Thank you.
Thank you for the music of your laughter.
Thank you for the sparkle in your eyes.
Thank you for volunteering to run the silent auction year after year after year….
Thank you for the melody of your voice as you announced another skier in the gate and another one that crossed the finish line.
Did I say thank you for the music of your laughter? I can hear you laughing as your team of Amazon women stood up, grabbed the hose, and took aim at the barrel hanging over the field down at Heiden Haus.
Thank you for picking up our kids, for trips out to Reddan, for organizing the car pools.
Thank you for showing us that it is fun balancing a busy family, an accomplished career and a hundred community service activities (and yes, we agree, it is totally legitimate to bring Chips Ahoy to the bake sale, and that scrambled eggs and cold cereal are really dinner items).
Thank you for never saying “no” when we asked you to help out.
Thank you for doing EVERY thing in your life with joy.
Thank you for bringing us together today. For joining us to one another, through our love for you.

And most of all, Nancy, thank you for H, R, and M. We will care for them. We will treasure every minute we have with them. Through them, we will hear you laugh, we will see your eyes sparkle, we will share our love. We will always be part of their lives.

Thank you.

With love,
Your friends

Paul's tribute to Nancy

I have 3 points to make

Point 1: I am Nancy’s brother. I am 51 she is 45, you do the math. I moved off to college when I was 18, Nancy was…. still a kid. So I missed a lot. I missed her first date, (Amy has a good story)…I missed her homecoming dances, I didn’t come home to see her in the high school musicals. (There are some pictures). Nancy went to college, I helped her move, she helped me move, she is so strong, couches, refrigerators, you name it, she could move it. She married Dave, moved out west, I didn’t visit her out there; I never met Frodo. She moved back here, her family grew, but we didn’t see each other much. It was always so great when we did see each other, … we were both just so busy with our own lives. Here is the point: even though she and I weren’t around each other much, our love for each other never changed. I have 33 years of evidence, and the rest of Nancy’s family can attest to the exact same thing: You don’t have to be around Nancy to love her or for her to love you.


Point 2: I think one of nicest things you can say about someone is they give great gifts. Nancy was the best ever at this. I, by the way, am horrific at giving gifts – just ask my wife. So how was Nancy so good? To be really good at giving gifts, you have to get to know the other person, without them being aware. You can’t just ask them, “Okay what do you want?” .You get to know that person by thinking hard about them. You have to think about what that person likes and would like, what they have and don’t. In other words, you have to stop thinking about yourself and what you have to do, and instead, is think long and hard about the person you’re giving the gift to. Nancy is all about thinking about others instead herself. (A brief digression: many of you know that as Nancy’s became more sick, she became “difficult”. There are a few different theories floating around on why. One theory, and it could be true, is that the steroids that Nancy was on, caused her to be agitated. Another theory, that could also be true, is that the tumor affected the part of the brain that allows someone to reason things out and calm themselves down. But I think that as Nancy’s disease progressed, she could no longer change the focus the attention away from her and back towards someone else. I’ll give you an example, you know how when you asked Nancy how are you, she would always respond with, how are YOUUU? Okay back to script) So here is the point: Through Nancy’s whole life she has shown me how I can continue to get know her better. Give Nancy a great gift. But I better make sure it is a great one. I need to think hard about Nancy. Think about the things she loved; her family, the music on her MyPod, her art work, Nancy’s ideas to save the world by reforming healthcare, her work with seniors, her angels This was Nancy’s gift to me, and maybe all of us, a way that we can continue to get to know her.


Point 3: Thinking about Nancy would be a lot less work, if she was here. But we all know, and D, M, R and H, will tell you, Nancy will always make you work. But I think, it is not that hard to see Nancy. Look at my Mom & Dad, or my sisters and you will recognize Nancy. Look at M’s eye’s, R’s smile or just listen H talk and you will see Nancy. Some of us don’t live in Madison, but it is easy to see Nancy anywhere. When you see someone riding a horse, think, my friend Nancy loved to ride. Or it is even easier, than that, when you see an interesting piece of jewelry, think, “Oh you know Nancy would have loved that”. Or sometime, if you’re lucky you might meet someone at a party and they won’t talk about themselves, they keep turning the conversation back on you, tell that person that is exactly what Nancy would do.