Oliver and Maudie, two lean Siamese felines, loyally put paw to pen to comfort their friend Jennifer Johnston during her battle with breast cancer.

Of course, Oliver and Maudie were really Sharon Gray, a former Yellowknife flight attendant who used feline humour to cheer up her sick co-worker and friend.

"I didn't want to phone her all the time because the first thing you ask is 'How are you' and we know how she is," says Gray.

Johnston, a well-known safety officer in the North was diagnosed with breast cancer in October 1999. After every one of Johnston's treatments, Gray sat down to write her a letter. She wrote about nothing in particular -- cat antics and woes -- anything to take Johnston's mind off the treatments.

Johnston loved the letters and they soon became a treat.

"Jennifer would say I hate having treatments, but I know there's a treat for me after," remembers Gray.

In April last year, Johnston died.

Gray compiled and self-published 35 of the letters into a book she called Letters to Jennifer. About a thousand copies were printed and it was officially launched in Winnipeg. Twenty per cent of the books proceeds will go to cancer support groups.

"I was so devastated that she was so ill, and I thought, I want to keep in touch with her ... what am I going to talk to her about."

Not wanting to discuss work or chemotherapy or cancer, Gray devised a way to communicate with Johnston, while taking her mind off her illness. But Gray didn't want to ignore her friend's illness altogether.

"I didn't want to not acknowledge that she was ill," she says.

All but two of Gray's letters mention chemotherapy or the state of Johnston's health.

Gray calls Johnston a health nut, since she would always check on her greens consumption and beckon Gray to go on walks, even in brutal Northern weather.

Johnston worked with Joe McBryan, owner of Buffalo Airways, inspecting planes and giving flight attendant safety training. McBryan remembers her fondly, saying they were always bantering back.

Sadly, Johnston died as Gray wrote the last letter.

"I sure miss her, but the book doesn't give me any closure," she says. "I pick up the book and think of her, and the book is her to me. I miss her desperately."