Thursday, May 12, 2011

beautiful eyes

That's what struck me when I met Sarah in person: she had the most beautiful deep brown eyes I had ever seen, with a lovely smile to match.

It was February 2010 and we were both in attendance at the Annual Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer. We had met online through our online community, Mothers With Cancer.

A short time after we met, Sarah found out that her breast cancer had become metastatic and she began treatment anew. A few weeks ago, she learned that the cancer had spread to her brain and she started radiation treatment. A couple of days ago, she was admitted to hospital with breathing issues. Last night, she passed away.

I won't claim to have known beautiful Sarah better than I did. But I did consider her my friend. And I will miss her.

Here are some things I knew about this remarkable woman:

She loved her three daughters very much and she was incredibly proud of them.

She was happily married.

She was a talented photographer.

She loved animals, especially dogs and horses.

She had an appreciation for good coffee.

She left this world way too soon.

Sarah, you will truly be missed. My heart goes out to your family and to all who loved you.

You can read more about Sarah at her blog, Spruce Hill. Tributes have also been posted by Jenny (cross-posted to Mothers With Cancer), Susan, Nicole, Ree and Mary Beth.

Note: Blogger was down for about 20 hours and when it came back up, this post was gone (as were the comments from my previous post). If you are seeing this twice in a row on the blog, it will be because Blogger has returned it to me.

4 comments:

Judy said...

Thank you for this. I'm not even sure I can write anything coherent so I'm glad others are.

I just miss her. She was always there, always cheering the rest of us on, and had the best attitude. I have to admit, I didn't expect this, and it makes me so very sad.

My heart goes out to her family and other loved ones.

Judy

laurie said...

Judy - I felt so inadequate writing this. I agree with every word in your comment.

Jenny said...

I have to agree with you about the eyes but I would add her smile. Even though I never met her in person both her eyes and her smile in any photos I saw of her seemed to light her up from within. That is how I will remember her.

Eileen said...

I'm sorry your friend is gone. The loss of each bright spirit is very hard to take - this disease is a monster. Gentle hugs...