November 2008

This will probably be the last entry into this record to the amazing courage of Becca. She fought against all odds –determined to survive metastatic melanoma. Sadly she died in May 2007 but her vast energy and joy for life continues.

In so many ways Becca’s uniqueness will continue to bring a smile to many who pass by. A beautiful garden is now reaching completion at Lewannick Primary School; a sturdy natural picnic table is firmly established in Stara Woods; Kev’s series of ‘Becca Paintings’ is awaiting a final coat of varnish, and we have sold Becca’s house - Kev now lives in a caravan in the middle of a forest. And that is just how Becca would have wished it to be!

The "melanoma awareness" DVD has been the focus of so much good work. A copy is now in every school and college in the South West of England – and it has had a wide distribution through many hospitals.

We now have strong links with the Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund – and we are exploring the possibility of a mobile educational unit to work throughout Cornwall.

We will continue to publish news of this project on www.melanomaproject.co.uk

Our thanks and our love to you all

Bet and Peter Kaye

Becca

After Becca’s death we received hundreds of cards and letters – so many reflections and memories. Here is one poem, written by our dear friend Fran.

Becca

The theatre is empty now.
By day, the sunlight slants
On battered boards.
By night, the moonlight
Milks the mute applause
Of silent rows.
Whatever play was here
Has now moved on.
The curtains closed,
And audiences, stirred,
Have now to homes all gone.

But through these doors,
In rivers of bright voices,
Rushing on through valleyed woods
And tumbling down towards the sea,
The story of the world still courses,
Told – as it must always be –
From the moment it is lived
Until the oceans set it free