I had written a lengthy post about Cathy Myers earlier in the week but it vanished!
Sometimes my computer just does that. It is so frustrating.
Sadly, Chris informed me that our dive buddy Cathy Myers from Chicopee passed away Sept 10th surrounded by her many friends from a gallant fight with brain cancer.
I was shocked when I heard this news.
I knew she was unfairly stricken with a brain tumor but from her upbeat emails I thought her prognosis was good.
Her husband Bill, who was her high school sweetheart, was killed by a teenage driver while taking his new custom dream bike harley davidson out for a test ride in 2008.
I had last seen the both of them at a scuba club holiday party. Bill was very excited about his bike which he had been working on for years. Kathy was telling me about a trip they were planning for their 50th birthdays. Both of them were so upbeat, always looking for the new adventure.
I had wished they lived closer to Gloucester because it would've been fun to go motorcycle riding together. We both had stories about the shit-heads out on the road with near miss moments.
Cathy was a big time football fan. I would tease her about this since I felt "watching football was like being punished". She also was an animal lover, in particular, cats. Her email name was "catwoman".
This posting is to celebrate and commorate both not only Kathy and Bill's life but as well as other friends and family that have passed on.
The saddest part of death is to be forgotten.
Ted Kennedy had a brave fight with brain cancer. He had access to the best doctors in the world but still he succumbed to the disease 14 months later. He was lucky in a way because he is immortilized through books and dedications unlike the rest of us.
Ted Kennedy can not be forgotten.
So instead of feeling the pain of saddness because our departed friends and family are not here with us right now, take the time to think of the happy, fun and funny moments we have shared with them.
I think they would enjoy that!
Like you, I wrote a lengthy memorial to Cat, but I don't know what happened to it. It's on my hard drive somewhere... makes me wonder if she didn't have a hand in making them disappear. You know how modest she was. I was shocked to hear this news as well. We had just e-mailed about her trip to Bora Bora, and I saw her photos. I thought it meant that she was winning the war. I'm really sad that she is gone, but I'm happy for her, because in the last few months she really lived out loud. She did all the things she ever wanted to do, and that's all anyone can ask for. Don't worry about people forgetting.... No one who knew Cat or Billy will ever forget them. They were the epitome of "good people"....
ReplyDeleteI wrote a post in the trip reports for Easy Diver and included a picture of them both underwater. It's how I remember them best.
ReplyDeleteI had forgot to mention in this post about a new book that the author Elissa Al-Chocklachy was promoting here at a bookstore in Newburyport.
ReplyDeleteThe book is titled, "Miraculous moments: true Stories affirming that Life goes on".
Elissa was a hospice nurse. She writes about her experiences with patients who are at the end of their life and what they see and experience moving on. I think this would be an interesting read.