Nancie corresponded with many of her friends and families for whom she had worked. She wrote and received many letters throughout her life, from all over the world. As I was writing this a couple of years ago I received a letter from Patience Holt, widow of James Holt, one of Nancie's babies. It contained a letter that Nancie had written to her in 1964. It wasn't dated but I was able to date it from the contents. It gave me a shock when I opened the envelope and saw her writing. I used to joke that my Mother wrote to me wherever I was and whatever I was doing. I remember being in the labour ward, having my first baby. She wasn't allowed to come in, despite having given birth to me in the same nursing home in 1946, so, to ease her frustration, she wrote me a letter, much to the amusement of the nursing staff! The arrival of this letter of hers from Patience convinces me that she approves of my writing up her memoirs. Thank you, Patience for your thoughtful gesture.
When Nancie went to work for Jean Ferris she was still getting over the end of her romance with 'Mac': Denzil Ian McCleod. I don't know much about their meeting but I think it must have been in Haft Kel. Unfortunately there is a gap in her diaries for this period. I do know that he later married in 1940 and had three children but apart from a passenger list showing him going out to Venezuela at the age of eighteen he is quite an elusive character. I wish I'd asked her more when she was still alive.
She did always tell us that she was engaged several times before she met Jack, including the stalwart Bill Park from back home.
She was certainly deterred from marriage by the unhappy marriages she observed and was not in a hurry to settle down.
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