A Dear Friend

...of mine passed away yesterday morning.

I met Linda when I did my internship at Yellowstone National Park. We worked together that awesome summer of 1996. We have all kept in contact and we met up for a 10 year reunion in 2006. In 2007 she went for a physical and was diagnosed with cancer. Unfortunately they were unable to perform surgery and she was given months to live. We were all in shock. Linda was an avid hiker. She was probably healthier than I am. After her chemo treatments she would even go on hikes. I honestly don't know anyone like her. She is a remarkable woman and she amazed me time and time again. She had asked me at one point when I was pregnant if I knew what we were having and I told her yes. I also told her that we weren't telling people but I didn't hesitate to tell her. She said she would keep my secret. And...she did. Not too long ago she started to really feel everything that was going on with her cancer. She started really feeling tired. But through it all...she continued to amaze us all. She was so strong. Right around the time Ethan was born she sent me a beautiful blanket for him that she made. How incredibly special is that? To know how tired she had become and everything else.......she made him a blanket. I/we will cherish it always. On August 24th I received word that they didn't know if she would make it through the night. She wasn't eating and she was sleeping so much. It was so hard to hear......even knowing that her months turned out to be months past a year. She was on morphine for the pain and I knew it wouldn't be long. I mailed her a card and she did receive it. A good friend (one of our Yellowstone gang) went to visit Linda and hugged her for every one of us and said each of our names as she did. She read emails to her that we all sent and she was able to visit her for 2 hours. I wish I could have. She seemed to have gotten better and I know many people get better before the end. Her son's birthday was over the weekend and she only woke up to mouth the words to happy birthday. It seemed she must have been holding on just for that. I was notified yesterday morning that her journey had ended and she was finally at peace. I just can't stop crying... What a remarkable woman! I will miss you Linda....... tremendously.