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6/7/2018 c2 2Kim Blythe
15, is such a young age to be dying...

The Glen people are so lucky to have Gilbert as their doctor !

The memory of Ruby was so welcome here...

The mention of doctor Mary something, made me smile !

Knowing that Jem wants to later in life become a doctor as well, just like his father, at just the age of 10, is such a remarkable ambition !
4/21/2018 c2 AnneNGil
Alistair McAllister - - what a great name! Did this come from you, or LMM? I *almost* want to have another kid so that I can name him that.

Ha! Love the reference to Mary's work!

In all, this was a very nice, thoughtful chapter.
4/21/2018 c1 AnneNGil
This is really sweet! I'm so glad that you wrote it!
4/13/2018 c2 TooTiredtoReadEnough
I don't know if we are ready to move of from their kiss in Fairytale Magic yet either ;-).

This was very moving, and such a contrast to Doctor Parson's from A Commonplace Woman (The Road to Yesterday or The Blythes are Quoted). He stays to improve his image and practice; Gilbert stays because it is the right thing to do for the patient and their family. The last paragraph "infinitely noble in the work his father did...changing the lives of those around him just through his way of being." is definitely Gilbert doing the work of "fighting disease and pain and ignorance". It is also lovely seeing Anne and his family partnering him with this, they they too, in their way of being are "having a pleasanter time because of me..."

It is pleasing to think that the life experiences of Gilbert (ill father, school chum died of consumption, had consumption himself, passage perilous with his wife, lost a daughter, wife almost died again in childbirth, wife almost died of pneumonia...) have made him more compassionate to the people in his care and sympathetic to their families. It's a nice counterpoint to Anne of Ingleside where he almost feels too absent; but here it is in the context of a diligent and caring doctor whose flock extends beyond his own family.

Please keep writing. Your little glimpses into the ordinary life are adroitly capturing small moments which we do not otherwise see.
4/10/2018 c2 46oz diva
I think it’s Anne’s words to Jem that most stood out to me, “because it’s his privilege, his honour to help those he brought into the world, to leave it.”

The metaphor that Gilbert is a cover on a book keeping their lives together is very powerful. We really get a sense of how important he is to this community.

So very brave and beautiful MsMcFishie. Being a doctor now when there’s nothing left to be done for the ill, but being there for the living.

The idea that the Blythe family are all involved too. Anne (and Susan) providing food and support, was also gorgeous.

Poor Pamela, dying so young. I did love the shout out to Dr Mary though, that was a lovely touch.

A very moving and beautiful story, thank you.
4/10/2018 c2 16MrsVonTrapp
This, here, even looking past the romantic attributes that make Gilbert such a beloved creation, are part of what makes him a great literary hero; his skills and knowledge and talents and natural compassion all channelled into the selfless care of others. And haven't you gifted us with a heartbreakingly lovely reminder of this.

I do think there was something important Lucy Maud wanted to say about Gilbert in making him a doctor; a noble profession for essentially a noble character, to be sure; a career and a calling intrinsically bound to his goodness and influenced by it; and the quiet, steadfast love that first won Anne (eventually!) now finding expression in the comfort he can still bring even when there is only hurt left; all the more reason, as Jem astutely questions, 'Why should he stay when there's nothing more he can do?' and receiving his answer so resoundingly in the respect and gratitude shown by that grabbed hand 'held with some force' and the tears on the face of a 'hard farming man'. Jem in that moment is moved to be like his father; not because he is out in the world fighting the good fight as Gilbert himself laments, but because he is doing the needed, necessary work on his own doorstep, with a girl whose own birth he still remembers, down to the 'storm that calmed' before she was ready to come into the world. Likewise, Pamela's end is gentle and calm and without pain, reinforcing your birth to death motif, and that Jem, son of a doctor and future doctor himself, recognises something of this in that moment is very beautiful.

Some lovely thoughts and phrasing here; Gilbert reflecting on life and views on opposite sides to the harbour; the transition of time for Gilbert himself (' the young doctor not quite so young now') and especially the wrenchingly gorgeous idea that Gilbert 'held all their comings and goings in his hand, like he was a cover of a book, keeping all that came in between together.' What a lovely encapsulation of both Gilbert and his role in this community x

What an extra little gift in your mentioning of Dr Mary... I so love it when the universes touch one another x

Yours too is a universe we will love coming back to in and of itself x
4/10/2018 c2 77kslchen
So sad. So beautiful. There's an air of peacefulness to this. Also intense sadness at losing someone, especially someone far too young, but there's no terror to this and that, I think, is what makes it feel peaceful. Gilbert being able to remember young Pamela's birth so clearly is important and speaks to how important all his patients are to him, from their first hour to their last. And in staying, right until the very end, he pays respect, to life and to death and to the individual person. He gives them worth, even when they are already lost.
You also gave us so many thoughts on the different ways there are to help. There is Gilbert, caring for his patients from beginning to end. There is Anne and Susan, supporting by nurturing and being there. There is Doctor Mary, working at prevention and cure in far away Boston. There is little Jem, as yet undecided on the specifics, but already knowing that he, too, will help one day. And there's also Katie and Allistair and young Robbie, being there with Pamela until the very end, and loving her. All this, if taken separately, might feel like not being enough, but added together, they made this girl's last minutes peaceful and quiet and painless and loved. If someone has to go, let it be like this.
4/10/2018 c2 10Excel Aunt
Sometimes the best medicine is a kindness freely given and without complaint. "Womb to Tomb" is a touching tribute to hospice work. This is canon-Gilbert to the core. The man that always wanted to fight "The Great Destroyer" and win. I love how he won't step aside and say, "Sorry, gotta go."

Anne and Jem (and Susan) also participate in this other sort of healing. The gratitude the family receives back becomes a catalyst for Jem. He desires to be a doctor too. Not just because he wants to help, but because, he his proud of his own Dad.
4/10/2018 c2 14elizasky
This was wonderful! You've packed so many lovely little character moments into a short piece. Obviously, the death of a teenager is heartbreaking, but the way you explained Gilbert's calling was beautiful. Katie feeling as if Gilbert is like "the cover of a book, keeping all that came between together" was a beautiful image to encapsulate the trust the community places in him. It's not just his doctoring, but his nurturing that stands out here, underscored by Anne and Susan's gift of food. It was beautiful that Gilbert remembered the night of Pamela's birth and makes me think he must remember so many of their births and deaths. What an extraordinary blessing for the community, as well has an unfathomable responsibility.

Jem was excellent here, wanting to help and fulfill Gilbert's aspiration (not forgetting Anne's imaginative take on the subject). But then observing the connected, emotional, respectful work that Gilbert does and wanting to be just like him. That was a lovely portrait of Jem as a child who is beginning to think about what he has to offer the world.

Thanks for the Mary shoutout! I was tickled to see her. Good to know she's still slaying dragons in nearby universes. I also smiled at Alistair MacAllister, which struck me as a delightful name that draws attention to some of the silliness of names in LMM's work.
4/10/2018 c2 19Alinya Alethia
This was an unexpected gift. I’m glad you came back to this, and with such a beautiful chapter. There are some lovely lines woven into the storytelling, especially the feeling that in crossing the harbour Gilbert has stepped into another world. He has in a way, sitting in that liminal space that holds Pamela’s life in limbo. Anne and Hem coming up the road with food expands the world of Gilbert’s woek beautifully. Canon often leaves me feeling Gilbert must have shouldered all the work, but Anne is right here, they do all have their own parts to play, and tending to the grieving is just as important in its way as to the dying.
The little sideways glimpse at another world made me smile, as did Jem’s boyish and fickle enthusiasm for the fancy of the moment. Lovely storytelling, as ever, from you. I’m glad you listened and caught this story when it came calling.
4/10/2018 c2 AnneFans
I like the way Anne and Gilbert come together to help others- I loved the nod to Elizasky's 'Sun and Other Stars' too.
4/10/2018 c2 3Lavinia Maxwell
Beautiful!
2/16/2018 c1 1Andrea1984
I like your story so much.

Sorry, she is a bit to short.

Cu

Andrea
11/18/2017 c1 77kslchen
Thank you for sharing your story with us! It's a very moving piece and you do a wonderful job at portraying Anne and Gilbert.
I like how Anne has such complete faith in him and her aside about the inappropriateness of certain letters ;). I can imagine both Gilbert and Jem testing the waters of (written) propriety sometimes - and neither Anne nor Faith minding one bit.
What really moves me about your story though, is Gilbert's realization quite what the loss of Anne's friendship and of not having her love did to him. So few lines and yet it really shows quite how devasted he was back during those years. Faith may be Jem's reason to come back but Gilbert had no such thing, no prospect of gaining the future he dreamed of, and yes, maybe that really would have been enough to prevent him from coming back. It is, maybe, the ultimate declaration of his love for her.
As for the ending, I am glad those two have managed to retain their passion and that they are still able to express their feelings to one another. This just might be the one flame never to burn out.
11/2/2017 c1 5LizzyEastwood
Yay you wrote something! I just saw this... What a lovely little vignette. I love that Gilbert can question his own bravery when we all know just how he would have responded! And this kinda makes me think of the Gilbert in my story... I always thought his original motivation was sheer heartbreak. I am hoping to motivate him differently but this makes me see that I do need to discuss his motivation a little bit. Thanks for that encouragement!
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