OCS: A Little About Abby.

If you house was on fire, and you could grab one thing before leaving, what would it be:

My cat. Absolutely no question. I'd be beyond devastated to lose her.

What 10 things do you most want to do before you die?

Be a wife and mother.

Receive an email or telephone call from my sister just because she feels like saying hello.

Find true peace, and know that God's love is enough.

Become a better person - especially learn to listen more and talk less.

Help improve the lives of children with Rb in the developing world.

Spend a year Island hopping in the South Pacific - and publish a book about my adventures after I come home (if I come home)

Enjoy a White Christmas somewhere with a real fall of snow and good friends.

Share a candlelit dinner under the stars, at the edge of the ocean, with the love of my life.

Find Barry Morgan and tell him what I think of him, without feeling intimidated (physics tutor who once told me he could fit my intelligence on the back of a postage stamp).

Decorate my home and bring my garden to life.

What is the most valuable item you own?

My cat. Materially, probably my 1924 edition of Milne's When We Were Very Young. amd 1929 ed of Winne the Pooh.

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If you could invite 10 people to a dinner party, living or dead,
who would they be?

My father, because I miss our conversations. Dawn French and Michael Palin, because they makes me laugh spontaneously and I'd love to talk with Michael about his many travels. Princess Di and Mother Theresa. St Luke, becuase I think he'd be a great after-dinner speaker. Ruth (King David's grandmother) and Nelson Mandela, two people who showed remarkable grace and courage in the face of great suffering. Yehudi Menuhin - I once heard him say, in response to a youth orchestra performance "if young people can come together and produce an experience of such great beauty, then I believe there is hope yet for our world" - I totally agree. This was a man who was not only an outstanding musician, but a man who had utter faith in the ability of the young to create peace. Johnners (but I'd remember not to serve him chocolate cake - which he never actually liked...he was just too much a gentleman to say so). Not sure about the 10th invite. Maybe I'd just leave an empty chair - for the unexpected visitor. I think that selection of people would make for some interesting conversations.

What scares you?

Uncontrolled fire, bees (I'm allergic to them), violence - especially knives and guns in the wrong hands, people who drive whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs (or both), being rejected, losing my independence. Jeremy Beedle being let loose on TV again.

A Little About Abby

"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path - and leave a trail."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson ~

ORPHANS OF THE CANCER STORM

My name is Abby, and I am the founder and editor of this website.

The childhood cancer journey began for me at the very start of my life, when I was diagnosed as an infant with bilateral retinoblastoma.

Well, I shall not bore you with my cancer adventures, but thought I'd post this for your enjoyment (I hope). This questionnaire was put together for me by the mothers of two youngsters battling cancer secondary to Rb, to help visitors "get to know" me - thanks Bonnie and Joy.

Abby, January 2005.

What are your Nicknames?

Abbygiggle - bestowed upon me by an economics lecturer at university. African Tree Frog (French mother, father born in Kenya), Moyothahabu (means "gold heart" in Swahili and was given whilst I was working in Kenya).

Where does your family live?

Ma and sister in UK, pa in heaven - unless there is a great cricket pavilion in the sky that no one knows about, in which case he'd be there with Johnners, eating cake and reviewing the day's scorecard. Everyone else spread across more than 10 countries on four continents (Africa, N. America, Australasia and Europe). Great for cheap and interesting holidays.

Do you have any pets?

A beautiful, gentle cat named Tosca, who listens patiently without interrupting and still loves me, but doesn't seem to care much for using a vacuum cleaner after she has chased pot pouri everywhere...

What are your favorite foods?

Yoghurt, fruit (especially mango and pineapple), coffee ice cream - and almost any other from G&D's in Oxford. Whilst studying at Oxford University, I lived in a college dangerously close to this fine establishment on Little Clerendon Street - their chocolate and grand marnier ice cream is divine! Rice and pasta dishes are savoury favourites. I'm not a fan of hot HOT or very spicy..

If you were a chocolate bar or sweet, what would you be?

Maybe a slab of traditional toffee, because I�d like to think that I am very sweet, but I am also incredibly stubborn and hard to break completely, even though I take a mighty hammering at times.

What is your favourite beverage?

Currently fresh strawberry and kiwi smoothie, but it changes often.

What texture would you be?

Something soft and warm, fur, lamb's wool, maybe silk..

What are your favorite colors?

Earthy colours like terracotta, beige and sand. The colours of a rich sunset, and a calm sun-soaked coral sea.

What colour socks do you wear?

Haha. They are nearly all novelty socks - fun and easy to match after washing (my ma always says I should pin them first, but listening to your mother's sensible advice is just no fun)! Many Winnie the Pooh. Today they are blue with little white clouds (thanks to little Abby's family in CT).

What is your favorite part of the body?

The heart. It's the part of our being which enables us to care for others and tell them how much they are loved.

Name your ten favrite books and authors.

Oh, so many. The Bible, (especially Isaiah and Romans 14:19). C S Lewis (currently reading 'Surprised By Joy'). Philip Yancey. "Little Women' (by Louisa May Alcott). Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh. Hind's Feet on High Places (Hannah Hurnard), Alexander McCall Smith's No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Harry Potter (Prisoner of Azkaban being my favourite), John Grisham. 'The Pioneers Scrapbook (a wonderful nostalgic account of early settler life in British East Africa), 'Out of Africa' (Karen Blixon), Cry the Beloved Country (Alan Paton) and pretty much any writings on East/Southern Africa.

Basically, I LOVE BOOKS. My idea of hell would be being locked in the Bodleian Library with no reading glasses.

If you were a student at Hogwarts, which house would you be in?

I would hope the sorting hat would put me in Gryffindor. Intellect and ambition mean nothing it you don�t have the courage to use those gifts well.

What is the silliest thing you've ever done?

Probably going to MacDonald's with my sister and our respective best friends, Helen and Emma - all of us wearing pyjamas (we were aged 12-17 at the time and should have known better). Long story.

Allowing a game warden to put an adult python around my neck runs a close second.

What are your 10 favorite movies?

Out of Africa, Born Free, Shadowlands, Gone with the Wind, ET, Cry the Beloved Country, Little Women, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Now Voyager, The Railway Children.

What are your musical tastes?

Anything really that isn't deafening or pointless noise: I love Classic FM radio and haven�t listened to Radio 1 in 10 years! I think I was born in the wrong era. Wish I'd been a teenager in the 20s or 50s, but then I'd have been a child during a war, so maybe it's better not to wish for things we never had!

What do you do when you are bored?

Read or write with a good CD or Classic FM playing in the background. I am rarely bored, just frustrated - two very different things.

What annoys you most?

Arriving at a doctor's appointment to discover my medical notes are not there. People who keep interrupting me with trivialities when I'm trying to write. Drivers who ignore a white stick - and cyclists who think they own the pavement (Oxford has far too many of these).

What makes you most happy?

Knowing that my true friends will accept me for the individual I am. Being able to make others smile. Watching the sun set over water. African safariing.

Have you met any famous people?

A few. Most memorable - the Queen, Princess Di and the Dutchess of York. John Thaw (Inspector Morse) once found me a luggage trolley at Manchester Airport, and showed me to a coffee shop - where we chatted for about five minutes. He roared with laughter when I told him he sounded just like John Thaw (I recognize people by voice more than sight) He found me the trolley before I realised he was John Thaw, and I found him to be every bit the genleman he portreyed in Morse. He signed my suitcase before we parted ways.

If you were to be interviewed on the BBC's Desert Island Discs, what would you choose to take with you to your island?

CD tracks:
1) Beethoven's piano concerto no. 5 'Emperor', 2nd Mvt. Royal Philharmonic recording, conducted by Andr� Previn. (this is truly sublime music).

2) JS Bach's cello suite, performed by Yoyo Ma.

3) Land of the Sea and Sun, by the Baha Men (a reminder of good times at Traveller's Rest in Nassau).

4) Friends in Low Places, by Garth Brooks (the live version - for times when my island is just too quiet!).

5) To Where You Are, by Josh Groben (a very special friend gave me this CD, and when I play it, I'm always reminded of her friendship).

6) We Are Marching in the Light, recording from the All Souls Orchestra "Prom Praise on tour" CD.

7) Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A, 2nd mvt. Recording by Thea King.

8) Puccini's Tosca - E lucevan le stelle ("When the stars were shining brightly" - to remind me of my cat and my pa).

If you could take only one of the above?: Beethoven's piano concerto.

Book (in addition to the bible and the complete works of Shakespeare): Oh so hard to choose. Probably Winnie the Pooh: The Complete collection of stories and poems, by A.A. Milne. Milne has a great wealth of philosophy in his writing and I'm sure I'd find something encouraging for every eventuality on my island.

Luxury: a solar powered laptop so that I could finally have uninterrupted time to write for pleasure - can I have that Sue??

What are your Nicknames?
Where does your family live?
Do you have any pets?
What are your favourite foods?
If you were a chocolate bar or sweet, what would you be?
What is your favourite beverage?
What texture would you be?
What are your favourite colours?
What colour socks do you wear?
What is your favourite part of the body?
Name your favourite books and authors.
If you were a student at Hogwarts, which house would you be in?
What is the silliest thing
you've ever done?
What are your favourite movies?
What are your musical tastes?

What do you do
when you are bored?
What scares you?
What annoys you most?
What makes you most happy?
Have you met any famous people?
If you were to be interviewed on the BBC's Desert Island Discs, what would you choose to take
with you to your island?
If you could invite 5 people to a dinner party, living or dead,
who would they be?
If you house was on fire, and you could grab one thing before leaving, what would it be?
What is the most valuable
item you own?
What 10 things do you most want to do before you die?

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The piece of music you are hearing is 'Child of God'. Words and music
� Kathryn Scott. Performed by Kathryn Scott and Vineyard Music.
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cat, Tosca.