Eileen's story

Pete and I were together for 64 years and married for 60 of them. He was my life. We built everything together, through good times and hard ones, and I will always be proud of the life we shared.

Pete spent eight years in the Navy, much of that time in America. During one of his postings, I became pregnant with our first son. Pete was away again not long after, so I had to be strong, but that was just part of life back then. When he returned home for good, we went on to have another son and a daughter. Our family grew to six grandchildren, and now I’m about to become a great grandma, which I know Pete would have loved.

Pete was diagnosed with liver cancer. There were times when he became very poorly, but somehow, he always seemed to rally again. After five rounds of chemotherapy, his consultant told us it was no longer working and that it was actually causing him more harm than good. Despite everything, I admired the strength Pete showed throughout. He faced it all with quiet determination.

Pete came to Dove House for respite stays on a couple of occasions, two lots of three days. He absolutely loved it there. He used to talk about how kind everyone was and how well he was treated. He especially loved the food, that always made me smile.

One of the things that meant the most to Pete was how thoughtful the staff were. He always suffered with sore feet, and they made sure he was booked in for massages. He really appreciated that kindness and enjoyed every minute of it. Those little things made such a difference to his comfort and dignity.

The respite stays helped me too. Knowing Pete was being so well cared for gave me peace of mind and a chance to rest, which I didn’t realise how much I needed at the time.
Since Pete died, I’ve donated all his clothes to the Dove House shops and I try to support the hospice wherever I can. It’s my way of giving something back to a place that gave us so much kindness, care, and support when we needed it most.