"There is some difference between living..." ~ Jane Eyre
There is some difference between living for the next moment and living in this moment, grateful for all of the love and beauty in life. When my father's father was dying of cancer, I was in the middle of being a high school production of Our Town. Always remembering Emily Webb's passionate plea to the Stage Manger about living life as you live it, the Stage Manager responds perhaps saints and poets do...maybe. The rest, no. Well, I consider myself a poet...and I try each day both here on this blog and in the life I lead to savor each moment because I know as long as life is, it shall not last forever.
And then there are those saints like Heather, as you see in the photo above, whose lives are tragically cut short by cancer. Although her friends and loved ones refer to her as Heather, she was also known as Dr. Vonbergen. This woman was brilliant, and before she died she was working as a psychologist that was of late working to improve the lives and mental health of recent veterans from Iraq, among all the other things she did to help others.
I am posting this for my sister, because it has pained me to see her in so much pain. There is a link below to a collage her friends made from Cortland, where she and Heather were roommates their freshman year. There are photos I will post at later dates of Heather with us at my sweet sixteen and Heather with my family in New York City for the first time. My dad called her Jazzy Heather - and she began signing her name that way to my parents in cards - she loved jazz music. So, I am posting a classic jazz song for everyone to listen to today...enjoy life, call your friends and loved ones to tell them you love them, and please just take five minutes out of your day to donate money so that future lives can be saved from this terrible form of cancer.
http://web.me.com/scottcd/Tribute_to_Heather_Vonbergen/Heather.html (a tribute)
http://www.curesarcoma.org/ (please donate)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSfduB-0lss (a charmed life - some jazz for Heather who lived one until the end)
Labels: Fighting Hard, Hope, Recollections, Sister Sister
posted by ThursdayNext | 7:22 AM
3 Comments:
This is a beautiful tribute to your friend and a great gesture of caring for your sister. You're just lovely. I have had two family members pass away from cancer and another currently in remission. It's so hard to watch someone deal with this disease. Kudos to you for spreading the word about awareness and raising funds for a cure. It's the only way.
This is really touching. I will visit the link to the song at a later date.
It's hard to have to face the damned demon in the first place and it's worse to be left alone standing there after the worst has passed.
This is the one thing I hate having in common with someone.
Shannon - Thank you. I am sorry that you have suffered as well watching loved ones perish from it. I am glad to hear that one is in remission and I will say a prayer that it remains as such.
NYD - As much as our lives are all affected by cancer, we do end up feeling alone as part of this severe helplessness of it all. I am worried about my sister greatly - and there is so little I can do right now other than lend an ear. Anger comes into play, and controlling frustration is hard when it comes to this.
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