| 15 weeks 6 days 11 hours ago Maine man honors wife's legacy with shortbread
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(Marnie MacLean, NECN: Portland, Maine) - For the last decade, Jack Gibson of Portland, Maine has had the same Sunday morning routine. He fills his bag with homemade Scottish shortbread and makes his way to Maine Medical Center. It's his way of giving back and honoring the memory of a woman he loved.
NECN's Marnie MacLean has the story.
Script:
The cancer floor at Maine Medical Center bears his name, but Jack Gibson has donated far more than money - for Ten years, he has also given his time.
Every week, since the floor opened, Jack Gibson has visited patients who are trying to beat
cancer. He offers a friendly face, and comfortable conversation.
In minutes, he can seem like an old friend, and at the end of each visit, he always offers Scottish shortbread. It's a family recipe his wife Susan taught him to make many years ago.
In four decades of marriage, Jack and Susan made countless batches of shortbread for friends and family. Then Susan got sick. She was diagnosed with lung cancer and just before she
died, she told Jack there was something important he needed to do for her.
Jack: "She told me she would like to do something for the hospital. While she was at home,
doctors, staff...even someone from housekeeping would come to visit her at home...she was so impressed."
Jack donated money to build the Gibson Pavilion at Maine Medical Center in Portland. The floor is dedicated to caring for cancer patients
and their families...and so is jack.
This is the first time Jack has met Lisa Dolan. In just two weeks, she has gone from busy mother of three teenage girls to a woman fighting leukemia. Jack says it honors Susan to make sure patients like Lisa get top-notch care.
Jack: "The main reason was the fact that Susan was involved, she was an unusual person...
out of respect for her...and her desire to help others, this is what I wanted to do."
Now, Jack, who spent most of his career in construction, is trying his hand at a new business...baking shortbread.
The shortbread he brings to the hospital has been such a hit, he decided to see if others would buy it. All the profits go directly to the Gibson pavilion. He named the company after his
late wife's grandmother...Granny Kirkwood.
Now that Granny Kirkwood's is a business, Jack gets a fair amount of free labor from the staff at Maine Medical Center. At Maine Medical, Meghan is a nurse on the cancer floor, but she also lends a hand at the bakery, packaging cookies headed for local grocery stores.
In fact, there's a waiting list for volunteers. The more shortbread that sells, the more money goes to patient care. Jack came up with this part of the plan on his own, but he's pretty sure Susan would be proud.
For more information please visit:
www.grannykirkwoods.com.
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