Sandra Botting This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. CLASSIFIED ADS-The Compleat Mother Magazine

   www.compleatmother.com/offthel - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/6/2000   Last Visited: 3/16/2001

   Sandra Botting , beloved midwife , founder of CAPSAC , past President of the Midwives Alliance of North America ( MANA ) , who spear headed the midwifery movement in Alberta for over 25 years passed away on Saturday night. She had been diagnosed with cancer in February and recently caught a very bad. cold which turned into pneumonia. Unfortunately , her immune system could no longer battle this tough disease. She leaves behind husband Ron , children Susie , Neil , Leda and Jeremy and grandson Lucas ( I'm sorry I don't remember her son-in-law's name ) .
   
   A celebration of her life will be held at 3 : 00 p.m. Thursday at Calgary Crematorium , in the NE corner of the Queen's Park Cemetary 3219 4th St NW , Calgary , Alberta , Canada. You are welcome to come. Please tell anyone you think may have been missed by the impromptu telephone tree and e : mail that went out on Mother's Day. Feel free to bring something for a potluck of simple food for the reception which will be at the Scandinavian Hall 739 - 20th Avenue N.W. , after the service.
   
   If you never had the chance to meet or get to know Sandra well , she was a great woman of impeccable character who taught many of us about birth , about life , about friendship , about love , about giving , about encouragement and. humour and grace. My heart is heavy from the great personal loss and even sadder for the loss of such a stellar soul in the natural childbirth movement.
   
   Please pass this message on to anyone you know who may be interested in this sad news.
   
   If you would like to send a message to the family , their address is :.
   
   ...
   How blessed we were and how much better our world was by God's great gift of Sandra Botting. Instead of catching babies , I'm sure she is up in heaven picking the perfect baby for each family and sending them down to be caught in loving hands such as hers.
   
   Love ,

2. 2. CLASSIFIED ADS-The Compleat Mother Magazine

   www.completemother.com/offthel - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/18/1999   Last Visited: 8/12/2001

   Sandra Botting , beloved midwife , founder of CAPSAC , past President of the Midwives Alliance of North America ( MANA ) , who spear headed the midwifery movement in Alberta for over 25 years passed away on Saturday night. She had been diagnosed with cancer in February and recently caught a very bad. cold which turned into pneumonia. Unfortunately , her immune system could no longer battle this tough disease. She leaves behind husband Ron , children Susie , Neil , Leda and Jeremy and grandson Lucas ( I'm sorry I don't remember her son-in-law's name ).
   
   A celebration of her life will be held at 3 : 00 p.m. Thursday at Calgary Crematorium , in the NE corner of the Queen's Park Cemetary 3219 4th St NW , Calgary , Alberta , Canada. You are welcome to come. Please tell anyone you think may have been missed by the impromptu telephone tree and e : mail that went out on Mother's Day. Feel free to bring something for a potluck of simple food for the reception which will be at the Scandinavian Hall 739 - 20th Avenue N.W. , after the service.
   
   If you never had the chance to meet or get to know Sandra well , she was a great woman of impeccable character who taught many of us about birth , about life , about friendship , about love , about giving , about encouragement and. humour and grace. My heart is heavy from the great personal loss and even sadder for the loss of such a stellar soul in the natural childbirth movement.
   
   Please pass this message on to anyone you know who may be interested in this sad news.
   
   If you would like to send a message to the family , their address is :.
   
   ...
   How blessed we were and how much better our world was by God's great gift of Sandra Botting. Instead of catching babies , I'm sure she is up in heaven picking the perfect baby for each family and sending them down to be caught in loving hands such as hers.
   
   Love ,

3. 3. MANA News

   www.mana.org/mananews.html - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/4/1999   Last Visited: 7/29/2001

   My Friend , Sandra Botting , by Mari Patkelley More on Sandra Botting
   
   MANA News Regional Reports
   
   From the President Ina May Gaskin
   
   Present and past members of the MANA Board are mourning our beloved Past President Sandra Botting , who died of complications of cancer in Calgary on May 8. Her illness had been diagnosed only three months previously. I will always remember Sandra as the only midwife with the courage to run for the MANA presidency when our organization was in its deepest crisis because of serious financial and organizational problems. No one knew better than she what a difficult challenge lay ahead of her , but she took it on anyway. And how well she succeeded in handling the enormous responsibilities that lay with being. President during that difficult time. All of us in MANA owe her and her family a huge debt of gratitude for the sacrifices and contributions she made to our organization during the six years she served. ( See articles elsewhere in this issue for tributes to Sandra. ).
   
   ...
   My Friend , Sandra Botting
   ...
   I first met Sandra at the MANA Board meeting in San Francisco in the fall of l985. She was the incoming regional representative for Canada , and I was doing the membership job. The chemistry between us was magic. One of the luckiest things in my life is that we got to be roommates that very first night. We didn't know it then , but living together at conferences and board meetings would become a comfy habit with us over the years. After that first board meeting , we retired to our tiny room in that cold Catholic girl's school dorm and laughed almost continuously for many hours. One reel of laughter followed the next until our bellies ached. As the new light of morning threatened to emerge , we were finally exhausted.
   ...
   Sandra was a master of many things and had such graceful ways of being. Still , if I had to choose one thing that is Sandra Botting for me , it would be her lilting Irish laugh. I am so privileged to have shared thousands of laughs with her over the years since then. She also loved to shop until she dropped. Even that first time we went shopping in the Haight , the saying that moved us forward was When the going gets tough , the tough go shopping!. That day we shopped but we didn't drop. As we strolled , we also shared all the important things about our families-both nuclear and extended. And , although it took twelve long years before I met Ron in person , I felt like I knew Sandra's precious Mr. Fix it and her children from the start.
   
   ...
   A rare and precious lightness of being always filtered into my times with Sandra , no matter how tough the going got.
   
   When it comes to MANA , the going did get tough with a capital T. New Orleans was the worst. There again as she took office of President and I as the Treasurer of MANA we persevered with our tenaciously loving antics.
   ...
   Sandra was challenged with loose bowels and a raging infection on her finger. Still , she managed to be efficient , graceful and maintain her sense of humor. Simply amazing , that woman. I could. never quite believe how perfectly she contained herself as a public figure.
   
   One of my favorite memories of that conference was the Halloween ball where they instructed us to come dressed as our favorite heroines. I brought an entire baby outfit with me , thinking that babies were very neat heroines. Pink tights , pink turtle neck , bottle , pacifier , pink hair bows , huge teddy bear etc.. And Sandra , as usual focusing on her work , had forgotten to pack a costume. We simply solved that problem , we just divided up my stuff and went as twins. The best part of that night was when we walked into the ballroom. Newly garbed as pink cheeked babies , we walked through a 9-foot tall red velvet vagina made by the Louisiana midwives especially for this ball. Well , did we have fun being born again and again. We were born in every position known to the midwifery world with flash bulbs and uproarious laughter lighting up the room and political atmosphere as well.
   
   ...
   Now , Sandra has been born again into a new realm. And , someday soon I may just buy some sticker hearts and go around offering to put them on midwives' foreheads. And , I bet if I do , she'll be there right next to me. She'll She'll be giggling and gently pushing me forward when I think I can't tenderly touch yet another precious woman. When I can't bare another bright smile bursting forth on a woman's face , Sandra will be there , egging me on . . ..
   
   return to MANA News Content Index
   
   In Memory of Sandra Botting
   ...
   Sandra Botting passed away in Calgary , Alberta , Canada on May 8 , 1999 at the age of 51. She had been a midwife for 24 years and past Board Member and President of the Midwives Alliance of North America. She was also the founding member and president of the Calgary Association of Parents and Professionals for Safe Alternatives in Childbirth ( CAPSAC ) , a charter member and president of the Alberta Association of Midwives , and a member of the board of advisors for the Briar Hill Birth Center. Sandra played an active role in the profession during years which were integral to the recognition of midwifery in North America.
   
   Closer to home , Sandra was integral to the recognition , definition and implementation of the midwifery profession in Alberta. The model of midwifery in Alberta has one classification of midwives who practice autonomously and whose scope of practice includes all settings. Sandra was recognized on International Day of the Midwife this year ( May 5 ) in the provincial legislature by the government for her dedication to the profession of midwifery.
   
   Besides her career as a midwife , Sandra led a rich , full life as a wife and lover , mother , grandmother , friend and mentor. She and husband Ron shared 25 blissful years together. They set an example of what true love and support can be between a man and a woman. Sandra leaves behind four children : Susanne , Jeremy , Neil , and Leda as well as one grandson , Lucas.
   
   Sandra had many friends around the world. She was very close to her sister midwives , Evonne Smulders , Susan Dowell and Jane Toews who helped midwife her through her brief illness. She provided mentorship to many others over the years , gently guiding , challenging to keep the bigger picture in mind and encouraging with her wisdom and humor. Her life is a testimony to the importance of finding our purpose , pursuing it fiercely , and blazing new trails along the way-always remembering to sing , to dance , to laugh , to cry , to live , to love.
   
   How blessed we were and how much better our world was by God's great gift of Sandra Botting. Instead of catching babies on earth , surely she is up in heaven picking the perfect baby for each family and sending them down to be caught in loving hands such as hers.
   
   The next issue of Birthing Magazine will be entirely devoted to Sandra's memory. We welcome long or short articles , gleanings , fun stories , sweet memories and pictures which highlight Sandra's life.
   
   The following is how Sandra described midwifery in Eleanor Barrington's book , Midwifery is Catching :.
   
   A Midwife's Role- Spread Love The saving grace on the wounded , weeping world Weeping washing tears , Cleansing , repenting ,