I am feeling a bit distracted lately, there is so much to think about. I sure have not been blogging, and barely reading blogs, so I apologize for my absence. My young friend died of cancer last night. It is so sad, a 38 year old mother of two wonderful kids. A beautiful woman ravaged by cancer in just four short months. It went everywhere in her body, every organ, her skin and her brain, in four short months. We were friends, I loved to sit near her at swim meets and hear her smart mouth. She was a hoot! She was so brave and strong, she met cancer straight on and fought until her very last breath. And oh she was full of piss and vinegar that is for sure. Actually she was like this almost to the very end. She was bossy and really funny. She had more energy than I could ever muster.
She was feisty and fiercely loved her children, her husband and the Packers. Her children and husband will eventually find a way to move forward, it will be hard, and never the same, but they will have to. They were the picture perfect family until cancer came knocking on their door four short months ago.
I know there is always a greater Plan, one we are not to know the answers to while we are here on this Earth. But I have to say that sometimes the Plan really stinks, sucks, is horrible and pathetic. Will her lovely daughter grow up to find the cure to cancer? Will her son become the most amazing firefighter ever, just like his Dad? We don't know, but for now all I know is that this amazing woman has left us, and it was way, way to early in her life to end. It isn't fair, it just plain sucks. So that is where I am today, so sad that the world has lost this amazing woman, just like so many amazing people dieing from cancer everyday. It just doesn't make sense to me at all.
42 comments:
It surely doesn't make sense. I am so sorry for your loss and for the horrible grief her husband and children are facing. My prayers are with you and her family.
That is very sad. I'm sorry for your loss. My prayers are with you and her family.
So sorry to hear this sad news about your friend.
Thinking of you all, Helenxx
Meredith, you were here for me yesterday and I am hoping I can be here for you today. Shocking, isn't it? Even when we know someone is terminally ill, it is still a shock to hear the news that is actually over. Especially hard when someone so young has left their young children behind. I went through something similiar when I was 38 and my 38 yr old friend( we went to school together) was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread through to her spine in just 4 short months too. I remember going to the funeral home and seeing her and not hardly recognizing her. She looked much older than from when I had seen her last. I will never forget it. It's hard to understand why things happen like this. I guess that is what having faith is about. Sometimes we are just not suppose to know all the answers. I try to think to myself that we should all try to live each day we are given with gratefulness. I think it would make us all better human beings. Don't forget, I want to return the offer...I am here if you need me too! ~Hugs, Patti
Yes, my dear friend, it sucks. As the struggle to get free of it, as you and I well know. It's not fair that someone that young has to go because of this stupid, awfull, nasty illness. I felt that way when the 4 year old son of my friend passed away, when my colleague's brother was swept away at 33...
And when it does go away you stay forever scared of that guillotine that hangs up there somewhere--and pray that the rope will never loosen itself again.
Stay well, my dear, I'm there with you. xxx
Dear Meredith, I am so sorry for your loss and that of your friends family. Such things, for me too, are beyond comprehension... I wish you strength and give you a warm digital hugh. X Floortje
I just said to a friend today that life is demanding a lot of us. As thoughtful human beings we are aware of death, but if it happens we are not prepared for it. I wish you (and the ones who lost a wife and mother) close friends, open ears and arms.
I`m so sorry, Meredith.
xo
Oh Meredith, my heart aches for you, and mostly for this family. . .
Thinking of you, and praying for them, that some sort of guiding light will help them along without her.
Heavy Hearts for sure xox
P
Sincerely Feel for you Meredith.... been in this situation twice now and its heartbreaking. Something seems so very wrong when a young woman with all her life to live is taken like that. R.I.P MY heartfelt sympathy goes out to you and her family.
take care now
Amanda :-)
Wow that's a sucker punch...IM so so sorry about the loss of your young friend....
I love the flowers you chose for today's tribute post
Dearest Meredith, I am so,so sorry for your loss and for the young family's loss but most of all for your dear friend who sounds like she was an amazing woman.My thoughts are with you today. xxx
Sorry to hear about your friend. 38 is too young an age to die and it's such a shame for her family. It sounds though that she will have left people with happy memories, a small consolation at this painful time. Thinking of you,
Anne x
Mer, I'm so, so sorry. Life sucks sometimes and it isn't fair. Why would this young woman be taken at such a young age. My heart breaks for you and her family and everyone who knew and loved her.
We'll talk tomorrow.
xo
Claudia
Oh Meredith, I am so very sorry to hear about your loss. There is no sense to be made. At least not that we can possibly understand. Not yet. But I will pray her her family, and all of those she left behind. I am sorry for your pain. Cancer sucks...yes it does. It took my darling Daddy, and I have never loved a soul like I did him!!!!
: ( Kris
XOXO
You're right. It doesn't make sense at all. And it just keeps happening and we don't seem to find cures and the losses keep coming. I'm so sorry about your friend. And for her family and loved ones. Most of all for her children.
Brenda
With my hand on my heart, and my head bowed I send you and her family my prayers. There are no words at times like this when there is such a great loss, a loss that does not seem fair and that no one can explain. It does indeed suck and it does not seem right, but we look through a glass darkly, we can not know His reasons. I send you my prayers and hugs and to her family, too. Please feel free to e-mail me, I am here anytime for you my dear friend. :)
((hugs))
Meredith, thank you for posting the pictures of the beautiful flowers and sharing your feelings about the death of your friend. You stirred my memories of similar losses I have known in my life, and prompted me to re-read a story which brings me some comfort if not an explanation for such losses. If you would like to read the story and my thoughts about it you can email me at Graciesaylor@aol.com and I will send it to you and we can type further about it. Or please simply accept I have read your expression of your feelings, I care about you, and I am sending you xxx from Gracie
Cancer, I hate that word. It moves in and takes so much from the one whose body it invades while it casts it's ugly shadow over the family. Not a day, hour or minutes go by that it doesn't seep into your thoughts. No amount of willfulness can keep it away, it is always lurking, the unwelcome presence. Tears come long before the final breath. You prepare yourself over and over, but nothing really prepares you for the loss. It does seem cruel and senseless especially when there are evil people living and good people dying. I am sure those few months that she lived seemed more like minutes to her, too short a time for her dear children and husband. I wish I could understand God's plan. I just know that the body has an endless supply of tears and grief can last for years. Hang on tight to those we love. Life is way too short.
(((HUGS))) Susanne ♥
I just wanted to tell you what I was told, no matter how much you love someone, God loves them even more than you do.
Susanne
Your friend sounds like an amazing woman. I'm so sorry for your loss, Meredith. I don't understand why these things happen, either. Thinking of you.
::sigh:: I don't get it either. I wish I could make you feel better.. but I guess it just takes time to heal. I'm so sorry for her husband and children. What a loss.
Hugs to you.. T
What a loss! It seems like the good people leave us much to soon. Life sure doesn't make sense sometimes. A friend of mine will be gone for 4 years the last week of Dec. A very giving, loving person. It doesn't make sense. Why do the good ones have to go far too soon? I am so sorry that you lost such a good friend. A husband a wife and children a mother. Life just sucks sometimes! There are no words to tell you how bad a I feel for you. It is so hard to loose someone close to you. Big HUGS, Teresa
I am so sorry about your friend. Cancer really does suck. There's not much more to say about it, is there. I hope her family and friends are doing ok.
I am so sorry, Meredith. It does suck. Death is an awful thing - even to those who are sure of what lies beyond - and especially when it strikes a young person with a family this way. I believe there is a Plan, and an Author too, but sometimes that plan just doesn't seem to make sense. At all.
Many hugs to you, and prayers for all who are grieving this amazing lady.
I'm so sorry for the loss of your friend :(
Darling Meredith, A knot sits in my stomach after reading this post. The "C" word. It has the same effect on all of us. It scares us, it frightens the "hell" out of us and it is the great equalizer. No matter who we were or what we had, once it gets ahold of us we are made quickly aware that it owns us and dictates our every move. Your friend, my dear, is soooo peaceful now. She's no longer wasting her strength to fight, she's using that strength from the other side to hold her loved ones and darling friends in her safe and loving arms...we just can't see her doing it...but she's doing it nonetheless. Let yourself feel it. She's there. Be loved and walk in light Meredith...we can't understand the next plane of existence, but your darling friend knows all about it. Love you, sweetheart...embrace your friend and know she is close. Super big hug...A.
Meredith, I'm so sorry to hear the news of your friend's passing at such a very young age. Cancer certainly seems to be on the rise these days. My cousin's stepdaughter was just diagnosed with leukemia after seeing doctors for many years for other problems. It makes you wonder how long she had it before they figured it out since cancer is usually growing years beforehand. With no warning signs, we just go through each day as if we are assured tomorrow and sometimes that it is not the case at all. So very sad when young children lose a parent. Every day I think about how at any second it could all be over for any of us. No matter how much we face it, death is still so incomprehensible. Hugs and blessings, Tammy
"I'm sorry" seems so inadequate to cover the emotions you must be going through right now. 38 is so, so young and to leave a family behind is devastating. I completely agree that THE PLAN makes no sense at times. I'm sending all of my love your way, and praying for the family of your friend. She sounds like an amazing woman.
Oh, I am so sorry!!!!!!!!!
Oh Mere, the hugest hugs from across the ocean. Death is cruel, cancer is cruel, and when a person is so young ... no words can convey one's sorrow at the senselessness of such loss! I shall be thing of your friends family and of you xxx
It really doesn't make sense at all. Every time one of my family or friends suffer similar fates I wonder why so many bad people in the world are still living instead, but there is no answer. I hope your friend's family are able to come to terms with her loss. xx
I'm so sorry Meredith,
It truly does suck. So unfair..makes no sense at all...just scary as hell. Makes me realize that if we take a single minute for granted we are cheating ourselves.
Liz
I'm sorry you have lost a friend and are feeling such sadness. It does stink and is horrible and unfair. Hugs to you. I hope you are feeling better soon. Somehow that doesn't sound right to say, but you know I mean it in the kindest way. XOXO
My condolences, Meredith, at the very sad time.
Hugs.
So sorry for your loss.x
So, so sorry for your loss, Meredith. Be sure I'll keep her children and family in my prayers. Hugs to you, dear one.
xoxo
I am so sorry to hear this. Sending love and hugs, my dear.
I am very sorry about your friend Meredith! Not at all the age to die and I feel really sorry for her kids.
My sincere condolences to you Meredith. I know it is hard right now. Time does help, but life has changed, and I guess we change, some, too. I sometimes think, that the largest lesson life teaches us, is that we never know what we have, until it is gone. We can't, really. We can come close, I suppose, but it is impossible, without loss, to truly know what we had. I believe that one day, we'll acheive a better understanding of what life and death are, but in the meantime, gentleness with one another, and with ourselves, is such a gift.
xo
Lena
P.S.
Please extend my condolences to Claudia as well, on the loss of her beloved pet. I tried to leave her comment, but it didn't go through. I'm thinking about you both.
So very sorry to hear of the loss of your sweet friend. Such a beautiful post in her honour ♥
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