You're told you have cancer everywhere and most likely have but a few months to live. Don't you wonder what you'd do, how you'd be? You like to imagine yourself bravely making the most of your flagging energy and numbered days, facing it all with dignity and grace. More likely, however, you'd be mad as hell, depressed, and just plain scared to death.

Nancy Hornblower Rice was all of those to be sure, but the dignity and grace are what we'll remember - that, and the unique brand of beauty she created with her talented hands. Through Nancy's sheer spirit and determination, along with the unfailing devotion of her husband of 25 years, George ("Jeep') Rice, those "few months" turned into three amazing, roller-coaster years. When Nancy was first diagnosed in 2004, Jeep promised to be her "bridge over troubled waters," and he was. The words to that song were tacked to the kitchen wall.

You knew Nancy. If you didn't know her by name, you saw her. Just about every day you could find her working in her garden on Loma - the pretty blonde in the loose denim shirt and straw garden hat - the lady with the clippers. Weak and sick from her latest surgery or chemo treatment, she'd be out there anyway, planting pansies along the sidewalk, pressing them into the soil with expert hands. And if you were among the nearly 1,000 people who attended the Coronado Historical Association Home Tour on Mothers Day this year, you've been inside her houses - the two back-yard-connected houses on Loma and Flora avenues that make up the magical Rice family compound.

Early in the Home Tour planning stages, Nancy and Jeep were first in their neighborhood to volunteer to open their houses to the public. It was a race against time to get everything ready, especially with Nancy's waning strength. What people may not have known, as they wandered through the houses and spectacularly blooming gardens, was that Nancy had died just a month before. CHA of course gave Jeep the option of canceling the tour, but he wanted to go ahead with it; he wanted to honor his wife's memory by sharing with others the beautiful world she had created for her family.

In addition to her creativity both indoors and out, we'll remember Nancy's humor, her famous tell-it-like-it-is honesty and her open-hearted generosity, especially with her big extended family. At her memorial service a murmur of laughter erupted from the young adults in the group as Jeep spoke of that generosity: "Many of you here today are driving or have driven cars that Nancy gave you." We'll remember too how she adored those nine grandchildren, doted on them, was never too busy or too tired for them.

We'll remember Jeep and Nancy together as "dog parents." They raised and trained five Canine Companions for Independence service dogs. Chyna and Wynona, both Labrador/Golden Retriever mixes, joined the family during separate hospital stays and were a huge source of joy and comfort in the house.

Nancy clearly inherited her fine artist's eye and sense of adventure from her mother, Marne Hornblower. Born into a wealthy New York family, Marne was a genetic scientist and gifted artist who flew her own plane and made African safaris. Her paintings grace the walls of both Coronado houses. Photographs taken at fun-looking family gatherings at the rambling Hornblower vacation cottage on Lake Superior show various ages and stages of all their lives - and dogs, always there are dogs.

When Nancy wasn't involved in ambitious restoration projects - architectural plans rolled out on the dining room table - she engrossed herself in fine detail work like French matting or fringed and tasseled custom lampshades. She once made a dollhouse for daughter Jennifer, inhabited by little "international mice" because Jennifer wasn't interested in dolls. Stepdaughter Sascha speaks of Nancy's tenacity, whether perfecting the lines of a French mat, joining the Peace Corps as a young woman, or battling Stage Four cancer.

The two Rice houses, one an 1895 "Folk Victorian" they purchased in late 1997, the other a Spanish Revival built in 1925, offer striking contrast to each other. The Victorian has the lived-in patina of age, overflowing with Nancy's handiwork, family photos, heirlooms and treasures collected from far and wide. During the home tour it seemed only right to see works in progress in Nancy's "project room," and Jeep's running shoes on the floor by a bed, probably dropped there after an outing with the dogs.

Starting in 1998, architect Dorothy Howard worked long-distance with Nancy, who was still living in Chicago where Jeep's law office was located (he has since transferred to the firm's San Diego office and plans to retire this year after 38 years). Howard opened up a maze of three small rooms at the rear of the Loma house to create a roomy farmhouse kitchen with white-stained concrete counters, anchored in the center by a long pine table and opening to a covered back porch with fireplace. Two years later a guesthouse and office in the back were added.

When the house directly behind the Rices' on Flora came up for sale, Jeep and Nancy bought it, providing the perfect solution to accommodating the family who wanted to spend more time with Nancy. They opened up the adjoining back yards and expanded the house considerably, making bedrooms enough for everyone. Nancy hired her architect daughter Jennifer Cosgrove and her classmate at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles (SCIArch), Rebecca Rudolph, to work with her on the yearlong project. Nancy's other daughter, Sarah Stoker, collaborated on interior furnishings and fabrics, and Jeep's sister Maryly Benzian, herself one of Coronado's best-known garden designers, joined the team to help lay out the gardens and connecting pathways. Maryly, who lives just around the corner on Star Park, was there to help in other ways during the difficult time - whether providing dinner for everyone or just gathering the family in late afternoons for cocktails and a fire.

The Flora project showcases the SCI-Arch architectural training of Cosgrove and Rudolph: the clean lines, sleek materials and state-ofthe- art appliances of the interior, innovative indoor/outdoor relationships, and the use of pools and stylized gardens all serve as counterpoint to the historic Charles Herreshoff architecture. A detached guest/pool house has a surprising roof garden planted with Mexican sage. Construction began in October 2005, setting a big Thanksgiving family reunion planned for the following year as the drop-dead deadline. Contractor Lorton Mitchell promised the Rices, "If it's not finished by Thanksgiving, your whole family is invited to my house for dinner!" It was close: the project was completed midnight the day before the guests hit town.

One of Jeep's favorite memories of the multi-faceted woman he "fell head over heels in love with" thirty years ago took place during the aforementioned Thanksgiving dinner. It was a beautiful day, the tables were set in the garden, the entire family was there. Nancy, gravely ill and extremely weak, somehow mustered up the strength to take two of her little granddaughters by hand and break into a rendition of "These Are a Few of My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music, dancing and twirling and laughing, enjoying life to the fullest even as hers was running out.