Yahneake Sterling, Staff Reporter

Gloria Ramsay, now 76, proudly holds a photograph of herself when she was 21. - photo by Yahneake Sterling

She has a spot on her wall for a photograph of a grandchild she would love to have. At 76, and a seven-year cancer survivor, Gloria Ramsay is full of life and expects to be around to enjoy it for many years to come.

Her days are spent caring for her many pets - Cindy her cat, Tippy her dog, Jack and Jill, her turtles and her fish. Tending to her orchids is also one of her favourite pastimes.

Occasionally, you'll find her dancing up a storm at Latin dancing classes at the Jonkanoo Lounge at the Hilton Kingston hotel.

It was seven years ago that Ramsay was diagnosed with breast cancer.

A month after her 69th birthday, she discovered a lump in her right breast. A health enthusiast, Ramsay went to the doctor to have it checked out. The last thing on her mind was that she had cancer.

That list

When the doctor uttered the word cancer after a biopsy, she went deaf. "I was in denial," she told Flair. "I died several deaths." Later, the tears came, for three hours.

"I asked him, 'Now that I have cancer, am I placed on that list?' He said 'What list?' I said 'the death- sentence list.'"

She soon realised, however, that having breast cancer was not a death sentence. Her family, she says, was her lifeline and helped her through the tough times.