Trigger Warning: This story mentions illness, grief, and the loss of loved ones. Please read with care.
Bronwyn Rutherfoord’s purpose is to aspire and inspire brilliance in healing and care. At 69 years old, she lives this daily, believing her passion for healing has evolved with deeper compassion over time. That energy comes from an idyllic childhood. Moving to rural Zimbabwe in 1959 as a toddler, she grew up as a farmer’s daughter without a television. Instead, she spent her days exploring the bush and developing a deep curiosity. She cared for the farm animals, raising and rescuing both wild and domestic ones, which sowed the seeds for her caring career. Her father was a positive man who took food directly to the laborers, while her mother, a nurse who cared for everyone in the community, also inspired her path. Raised in a home centered on grace and gratitude, Bronwyn learned early on to look for the good. When she watched the movie “Pollyanna” as a young girl, it taught her the glad game. The rule was simple: no matter how bad a situation was, you had to find at least one thing to be glad about. Years later, she realized this game was the exact same practice as gratitude.
Over the next several decades, Bronwyn faced serious hardships. When she was twenty, she experienced the tragic loss of her mother. Despite the heartbreak, she refuses to speak about it as a victim and remains completely grateful for who her mother was. Thirty years ago, Bronwyn and her husband, Mike, suffered a devastating financial loss. Though it impacted their lives deeply, Bronwyn felt she found her soul in the process and actually became more grateful, realizing that wealth had never felt comfortable anyway.
“I believe in people’s stories. Obviously, as a nurse, I’ve been listening to people’s stories for 51 years, so I’m always inspired by that myself.”
~Bronwyn
She faced another challenge when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She eventually beat cancer twice, but she did not let it worry her because she had children to raise and life had to go on. Throughout all of this, Bronwyn worked as a nurse for fifty-one years. She finally burned out in 2025 after spending thirty-five years in highly demanding clinical environments. Looking back, she realized she had spent years holding onto the sadness of the people she cared for.
Alongside her career, Bronwyn navigated the loss of her husband in March 2018 after a forty-year marriage. He was a quiet, deep-thinking man. Two weeks before he died, while critically ill, he gave her a beautiful compliment, saying he couldn’t have any more respect for any other human than he had for her. After his death, she turned to his words often to give her strength, acknowledging that while love is key in a marriage, having respect is very special. When he passed away, Bronwyn crashed. She moved about thirty times over eight years and struggled with a deep sense of aloneness. However, despite the grief and transient lifestyle, she can positively reflect that she met exceptional people and had wonderful nursing experiences during that time.
Eventually, an old school friend invited Bronwyn to take an online course in coaching and mentoring. This marked a significant personal turning point. After five years of intense grief, Bronwyn realized how unkind her inner dialogue had become, noting she could never be as harsh to a living soul as she was to herself. To change this, she started practicing intentional journaling, even writing her gratitude furiously on a wall and filling pages about her forty-year marriage.
Digging deeper into her healing, Bronwyn studied neuroscience, breathing, and meditation. Through her research, she also realized that gratitude is backed by science, not just wishful thinking. After joining the Gratitude app in 2024, she built a consistent practice. She now journals every morning and evening and considers it a strict lifeline, noting that she feels off if she skips a day.
“Journaling helps get things out of your head, and affirmations are valuable in growing belief and calming the nervous system.”
~Bronwyn
Things took a turn in May 2026 when Bronwyn contracted viral pneumonia. She ended up in the hospital on oxygen, feeling weaker than she ever had before. Too sick to read or journal, she simply prayed and focused entirely on her breathing. Then, something unexplainable happened in her mind. She had a non-contrived vision of a thick cast peeling away from her, resembling the dark bark of an African knobthorn tree. As it peeled off to reveal gleaming skin and a spiritual cleansing, she knew she was finally shedding her past. Ever since that day, a deep sense of joy has returned.
Today, Bronwyn lives in the inclusive, welcoming community of the Midlands. Her home is peaceful and close to work, and she wakes up daily to birdsong and the sun shining through a cycad outside her window. She accepts her “aloneness,” a term she prefers over loneliness, and although she occasionally feels anxious, her mindset shift has brought lasting healing. She stays closely connected with her three children and five grandchildren, valuing the close-knit family life they share.
“We have to trust that the universe always has a reason for presenting these challenges, even though at the time it isn’t pleasant.”
~Bronwyn
After ending her clinical career in 2025, Bronwyn transitioned to offering post-discharge care. In this new chapter, she realized the value of practicing compassionate detachment. She discovered that caring for others did not mean carrying their pain, allowing her to release her patients without taking on their separation anxiety.
After everything she went through, Bronwyn has finally found a peaceful space within herself. Her present goal is to continue showing herself compassion. As someone who spent most of her life putting others first, she acknowledges that prioritizing herself requires a huge shift from the coping skills of her past. However, she believes mindfulness practices are essential for survival in this fast-paced world.
Bronwyn is content with exactly where life has brought her, hoping to become a global ambassador for nursing to share her breathing techniques with an anxious world. She still practices the same “glad game” she learned as a little girl, simply choosing to notice the good through every stage of her journey. Gratitude has guided her to a place of genuine healing. Being grateful for the lessons she learned along the way, she continues to live each day with a thankful heart.
This is Bronwyn’s story, told beautifully by her and curated in its truest form by me to share with you.
I would love to hear your story. Write to me at preeti@gratefulness.me 💌
Every story is a reminder that a grateful heart is a magnet for miracles.
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