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Post by ellie on Jul 25, 2018 14:41:31 GMT
Tomorrow I’m going to London to the funeral of one of my very dearest friends. I’d known her since we were both five years old. Last week she lost her seven and a half year battle with pancreatic cancer.
The family have asked me to deliver the eulogy and as I’ve been writing it I’ve been thinking the last 7 years of her life were the epitome of the motto she espoused, “carpe diem” and a reminder to us all to do likewise.
Even though she went through operations, endless bouts of chemo and other debilitating treatments nothing stood in her way of living her life to the full. She just kept on going through it all. The day before she died she attended a rock concert in Hyde Park. She was so weak she had to lie down for it .... but nothing would stop her going.
She lived every minute and of her life to the full right up to the very end even though the illness and the debilitating treatments had left her a skeletal shadow of her former self. I think her story is a great reminder to us all that life is precious and time is fleeting so don’t waste either worrying about stuff that doesn’t matter or putting off doing things we’d like to do.
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Post by sgev1977 on Jul 25, 2018 15:06:44 GMT
I'm sorry, Ellie. She sounds like a beautiful human being!
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Post by mllemass on Jul 25, 2018 16:55:12 GMT
I’m so sorry about your friend.
One of my older cousins passed away a few weeks ago. She was a filmmaker and also taught a university filmmaking class. The films she made were mostly feminist documentaries and short films about women’s issues. Her adult son was one of the speakers at her funeral. Among her accomplishments, according to him, was her extensive research proving that women throughout history were not only as intelligent as men, but often even more intelligent. I wanted to laugh, but it seemed inappropriate at a funeral. But it did make me smile! It was so her, and she would have loved it!
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Post by ellie on Jul 25, 2018 17:17:59 GMT
Thanks both. I just felt like sharing the story because of how she managed to do so much despite being desperately ill. I found her very inspiring and a reminder to live life while you can and really appreciate the good times.
I’m sorry to hear your cousin passed away Milemass. She sounds like she was a very interesting person.
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Post by MagdaFR on Jul 25, 2018 22:29:52 GMT
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Post by roverpup on Jul 26, 2018 4:25:21 GMT
Let me extend my condolences to both ellie and mllemass for your recent losses. It is lovely though that both people were so fondly (and eloquently) remembered by those whose lives they obviously affected so profoundly.
That says a great deal about how well they lived their lives.
"And there's no tragedy in that."
:-))
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Post by queenzod on Jul 26, 2018 6:43:27 GMT
I’m afraid we’re entering that difficult period of life where friends begin to die. It’s so hard, isn’t it? I lost my oldest friend (40 years) to ovarian cancer a few years ago. She went down swinging, but god what a horrible disease! She had seven years of chemo and surgeries. They just kept cutting it out, but they never really got ahead of it. A month before she died she flew from Alaska to Chicago for a Cat Stevens concert. She also had tons of energy, and was always helping other people. We spoke a few days before she died and I was able to tell her in actual words how much her friendship had meant to me.
Hugs to everyone here experiencing loss. It makes me realize how precious life and friendship is. It’s amazing how wonderful it is to be a human being, but parts of it really suck. 🙏🏻
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Post by onebluestocking on Jul 27, 2018 4:52:02 GMT
My Mom just found out on Tuesday that her stomach cancer is inoperable. Christ, why does everybody get cancer now? My husband had a friend who died of brain cancer at only 40 years old.
You are so right, appreciate every moment that we are alive and healthy!
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Post by queenzod on Jul 27, 2018 6:07:26 GMT
OBS, that’s terrible! Can they do chemo or a targeted treatment?
Hugs!
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Post by ellie on Jul 29, 2018 8:53:23 GMT
OBS, I’m so very sorry to hear about your Mum’s illness. I hope she gets to have a good quality of life for as long as possible and that you all get to enjoy some more happy times together. My very best wishes to you all. Cancer seems to be a dark cloud that hovers over all our lives either directly or indirectly. We can only hope and pray research delivers a cure soon.
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