Yesterday, I found out that one of my friends from high school passed away.
Sure, people die every single day. Lots of times people I know die. But this one has hit me really hard. Maybe it's because she was my age and I had known her since she was a kid in high school like me.
Marilyn was special. We were friends the last two years of my high school life. We were songleaders together and we were part of the "lunch bunch". We had lunch every day together and the four of us got along amazingly well. I was with her as she recovered from a car accident that broke her jaw. She had to wire it shut and I would go to her house in the afternoons and be totally grossed out when she had to put spaghetti in a blender and squeeze it into her mouth with a straw. I was with her when we would make up songleading routines in her bedroom and listen to Carole King.
Graduation took us different directions, but a chance encounter with her at my brother's graduation gave us time to catch up with each other's lives. She was there with her tiny baby that she had recently had. She was now a married lady.
Our next meeting was in 1995 at our 20 year reunion. We caught up on old times and had fun remembering the "good old days".
I would not see her again until 2009 when she and I hooked up as Facebook friends. She was my inspiration to start blogging. I loved sitting there reading about her life and her family. We stayed connected through our blogs and through Facebook and occasionally sending a message or two to each other.
I last had an e-mail from her in May of this year when she was in the beginning stages of finding out what the spot on her lungs was. At this point she still didn't know what her prognosis was. I read her bloggings and her FB posts regularly to find out how she was doing. At the point when she was diagnosed with cancer I was so inspired by her positive and courageous outlook that she was going to be well and all would be cured.
At one point during her journey right after starting chemo, she had been so upbeat because the doctors thought she was doing so well and that the tumor was shrinking. What a relief it was to hear that news. And then there was no news for awhile until October 4th when she posted a blog entitled "Walking hand in hand with God". In it she reported her progress and that her tumor had stopped responding to treatment and that they were going to do some more intensive therapy. She still was so upbeat proclaiming that she was going to be well and that she was going to beat it.
There was a long time and still no news. I kept checking her FB daily to see if she had any updates. Yesterday, instead of good news......I found that she had lost her battle.
This woman was such a kind hearted and wonderful woman. She radiated happiness and enthusiasm. She leaves behind a husband, 7 children, and 15 grandchildren (2 of which were just born very recently). I am so saddened for their family. You could tell by her posts and by her postings that she was the center of that family's universe and I am sure that they are devastated by her death.
Thank you Marilyn, for showing me how to be a wonderful mother, friend, and an inspiration in love and courage. I will truly miss your blogs and your sharing of your family and your life. These last 5 years, I really feel like I know all your family like they were an extension of my own. I am sorry that we never got to see each other in person again......but your memory will live forever in my heart. Rest in peace sweet lady.
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