By Alberta Cancer Foundation
What would it mean to our kids and grandkids to inherit a brighter, healthier future? A world where “One Day” standard cancer treatments give way to cures, diagnoses are no longer feared, and families get more precious time together? That’s the future Wayne Meikle is helping build. After walking beside his late wife, Sheena, through her 10-year cancer journey, Wayne chose to honor her memory with a gift in his will to the Alberta Cancer Foundation. He is helping turn this “One Day” from a possibility into an inevitability.
We invite you to read Wayne’s story and reflect on how a gift in your own will can bring hope to Albertans facing cancer for years to come.
Dear Reader,
One of the most important life lessons I’ve ever learned is this: there is always hope.
Hope is an incredibly powerful feeling, isn’t it? It keeps us going even on the hardest of days. It’s a promise that things will get better One Day.
Like most lessons worth learning, I discovered the power of hope the hard way, through love and loss.
My whole life, I have been lucky to have been surrounded by nature. As a young boy growing up in rural Alberta, I loved exploring in the forest and having adventures with my friends. Maybe you had a similar outdoorsy childhood?
When I was older, I became a park ranger in the northern region of our province. That’s where I met the love of my life, Sheena—the kindest, most caring person I’ve ever known.
We both had a passion for nature, which is one of the things that drew us together. After we married, we travelled around the province, settling in areas needing park rangers while she worked as a nurse. Eventually, we moved to Okotoks, just south of Calgary, and I helped design Fish Creek Provincial Park.
Sheena and I had big plans for our retirement. We’d been saving up so we could travel and explore natural areas around the world. We would talk about which place to visit first—would it be the wetlands of Norway or the untouched forests of New Zealand? There were so many things we were going to do … one day.
Then Sheena was diagnosed with breast cancer while only in her mid-50s. All of a sudden, that future didn’t seem so certain.
I can’t say enough about the support we received from the Alberta Cancer Foundation during Sheena’s treatment. The information, the encouragement, the community—these all made a huge difference to both of us.
I’ll always be grateful to the Foundation because they allowed us to have more moments together. Sheena was able to be at our son’s wedding and meet two precious grandchildren, which meant the world to her.
After 10 years of treatment, my beloved Sheena passed away. I can’t describe the magnitude of the loss I felt.
For the first time in my life, I was without hope. All our big “one day” plans vanished into thin air. I didn’t know how I could possibly move forward without her.
But after a while, just like a forest regenerating after a wildfire, I gradually started to come alive again. I found myself walking by a travel agency … and going inside. I signed up for my first solo trip and have been travelling ever since, exploring forests and gardens and marshes around the world.
The hope I’d thought was gone came back stronger than ever. Hope for a life after loss. Hope that One Day, couples won’t have to say goodbye too soon.
This is exactly why I’ve decided to include the Alberta Cancer Foundation in my will, as a tribute to Sheena.
You see, cancer doesn’t just affect the people who have it. It affects the families, too. It affects everyone in one form or another. That’s what the Foundation is there for: to be their spokesperson. By supporting cutting-edge research and every cancer centre in the province, the Foundation gives hope to all Albertans.
It gives me great joy to know I’ll be part of that, even after I’m gone.
Legacy giving really does make a difference. In the past few decades, Alberta’s cancer survival rates have gone from one of the worst in Canada to one of the best. And it’s forward-thinking, inspired gifts from legacy donors that make that kind of substantial change possible. I truly believe that breakthroughs in cancer research are just around the corner, and support to the Foundation help make that happen for people like Sheena.
If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to reflect on how you want to leave your mark One Day and consider including a gift in your will. I can tell you from personal experience, it will be one of the most meaningful decisions you’ll ever make.
With gratitude and hope,
Wayne Meikle
Alberta Cancer Foundation Legacy Donor
P.S. If you’re considering making a gift in your will or have already done so, I encourage you to let the folks at the Alberta Cancer Foundation know. Reach out to my friend Christy and the legacy team at 1-866-412-4222 or legacygiving@albertacancer.ca — she’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have. And tell her Wayne sent you!
