You were unique
It is 10 a.m. The telephone rings. It has to be my friend Eugene, who has told me to expect a call from her at 10. Her voice is enthusiastic as she tells me that I must watch the 9-10 a.m. programme on Rupavahini; she keeps me informed of the lectures online.
She is looking forward to attending the SLAAS sessions in January. I tell her that it is safer to follow the lecture online, if possible. “But I have to ask questions,” she responds….. This conversation took place a day before her sudden demise.
Eugene carried away all the prizes at Girls’ High School Kandy. She was the first female student to enter the Medical Faculty from the Central Province. We both entered the Colombo University in 1952. A pre-med year was compulsory then. She had a phenomenal memory and was consistently a high achiever.
She married Tommy Wikramanayake immediately after qualifying. Eugene was a hosteller, together with about 75% of our batch. Tommy was the warden of her hostel in de Saram Place. Her companions were unaware of the blossoming romance until just before the wedding! They were well suited to each other as both shared a wide range of interests.
The greater part of their professional lives was spent in the Peradeniya Campus. Tommy as Professor of Biochemistry, and Eugene as Professor of Anatomy. They were affectionately referred to as Tommy and Timmy by the student community. Eugene specialized in genetics and was one of the vanishing breeds of true academics, with many published papers to her credit both internationally and locally. Her last research was on the Dambana Veddhas.
Eugene had a voracious appetite for knowledge. This led her to many lecture halls. The topics were not necessarily medical. Around four years ago, she fractured her neck of femur while attending the SLMA sessions in Anuradhapura. This limited her locomotion to some extent, and prevented her from using her favourite mode of transport, the public bus! She would tell my daughters, that one should travel by bus as you get a much better view than when in a car.
Overriding her qualities of ‘head’ were her qualities of the ‘heart’. She would always greet us with a bear hug, which included my maid as well, and invariably bring something interesting- a book of Russian poetry, one of her published papers, a slab of chocolate (especially when my husband Mark was alive as she knew he loved chocolates), and on one occasion a brightly patterned chintz which she had purchased long ago at Carwallios (the shop is no longer in existence). This now adorns our sofa – a permanent reminder of Eugene.
After my husband’s death over five years back, she took me and my daughters under her wing, and would frequently call us – almost every other day- to check on our wellbeing. On hearing of my great granddaughter’s birth she resolved to present the baby’s mother Tommy’s comprehensive volume on nutrition, so that the baby would be fed the correct diet.
Eugene, you were unique and I shall miss you.