Robin Rennie
Robin died at the age of 70 on January 4, 2015. In her early career she worked as a high school guidance counsellor where she took huge risks to help girls who came out to her. In 1978 she was hired by Family Services of Greater Vancouver and initiated counselling and support groups for gays and lesbians. Frustrated by the lack of support for gays and lesbians in Vancouver, especially during the AIDS crisis, Robin and her partner Christine Waymark eventually established Dragonstone Counselling in 1991. Dragonstone continues to operate and its website holds a powerful tribute to the founders.
When same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada, Robin and Christine were among the first to tie the knot, on April 4, 2004. Their union is celebrated alongside several others in the award winning documentary film, Let No One Put Asunder: The Legal Recognition of Same Sex Marriage in Canada.
As a member of Quirk-e, Robin explored poetry and expressing herself through writing helped her cope with aging and the difficult diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. In 2014, she wrote this untitled poem and published it in The Bridge Generation.
I am amazed and delighted as the colours
And strands of my life drift, shift, and form anew,
According to the fullness of my dreams.
Time brings the textures of age.
The patterns, like the fractal wrinkles on my face,
Deepen and grow in eternal complexity.
I experience the exquisite beauty of life.
I am full with wonder and gratitude.
In 2014, Christine and Robin commemorated the 10th anniversary of their marriage. The community also gathered to pay tribute to Robin. A beautiful 5 minute video about the event was created by fellow Quirk-e members Jen de Roo and Nancy Strider called The Lines That Join Us.
