Weekly Round Up: In Memory of Those We Have Loved and Lost
There are no words to describe the pain of this past week with the loss of Catherine and Lori. The sad truth is that every week we lose someone to cancer, but for each of us, there is that someone special which breaks our hearts. We are still reeling from the recent death of Karen and now two more losses seem too much to bear.
I never met Lori, but I know that many of you did. She was a fearless voice in the MBC community and that voice and presence will be missed terribly. While I never met Catherine in person either, we shared skype and email conversations over the years. She was a prolific writer, featuring on the weekly round-up every week – how we will miss her beautiful writing and her enchanting stories. We were granted a window into her final days as she continued to blog even as the end was drawing near for her. True to her wonderful nature, Catherine gifted us with one last post to remember her by – a generous thank you for your support and friendship.
And it was all of you too, who wrote to me in the comment sections or read along quietly. You made the hard days easier, and my random thought experiments acceptable. It was fun to write with you. I’m grateful to know you were all out there, and in some ways my words left an impact. That was your gift to me.
Thank you.
I’ve been lucky. I got to have so much. I got to have you.
This life has truly been a win.
I hope you will understand this week if I don’t create a full round-up of your posts – I will catch up again next week. My heart is too heavy and full of thoughts of Catherine. As a tribute to those dear ones we have lost, I would like to dedicate this week’s round-up exclusively to their memory.
Until next week,
Take care of yourself.. and each other
Yours with much love always
Marie xxx
On Saturday, August 19th, from 1 pm to 3 pm EST at the Richelieu-Vanier Community Center located at 300 des Peres Blancs, Ottawa, ON, K1L 7L5, there will be a celebration of Catherine’s life. If you can’t be there in person and would like to be part of the celebration you can join us through a video link by registering here: https://app.webinarjam.net/register/1841/f8a53a4289
Marie, it’s been an awful week. And we’ve had many awful weeks in our community over the years. Catherine was such a dear heart, so honest and generous in her writing, my heart just aches for Zsolt and for her family. And Lori. I’m just so glad I finally met her in person last November. We were at a conference on MBC organized by Dr. Love’s Foundation to parse the results of a survey of people with MBC and figure out how to help them get what they really need. The attendees were all of us either folks w MBC or clinicians who’d also had breast cancer, which included doctors, oncologists, nurses, counselors, me representing PT, and lots of others. It was a pretty amazing group. On the second day, I got the news in the morning that Linda Lou Bachelor Ballou had died of MBC. I was gutted. Another tireless advocate and friend with whom I’d share texts, phone calls, Skype chats, all that. When I went downstairs, Lori was one of the first people I saw. She could tell that something was wrong. So, I told her, and burst into tears while she hugged me tight. So poignant and ironic to remember that now.
I realized long ago that grief is just going to be with us all the time in this realm of breast cancer. It reminds me of a lyric by Carly Simon: “Don’t mind if I fall apart. There’s more room in a broken heart.”
Love you, dear Marie. Glad you are still here. xoxo, Kathi
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Oh Kathi, thank you so much my dear friend for taking the time to comment and to share with us your memories of Lori. And that Carly Simon lyric…. ((sigh))
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This week has been difficult and very sad. I don’t have the words to express how my heart feels because in a way, I am still trying to process all of it. I feel sad, helpless and scared. They will all be missed. And I can only hope it will be a long while before there’s more bad news. But I am aware we have no control over anything. Wishing you health, Marie, as well everyone else in our community. And for those facing stage 4, you’re all in my heart. Thank you for all you do. xoxo
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Wonderfully said Rebecca. We wish with each death that there will be no more, and yet each day someone dies from this relentless disease. It feels as if we’ve been particularly hard hit this past week and we are reeling from the blows.
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❤️❤️❤️
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I too feel at a loss for words. I was fortunate to meet Lori in DC and LA, she was an amazing advocate and such a generous spirit. I didn’t meet Catherine but loved following her blog. As you say Marie this happens a lot in our community. And Karen, just heartbreaking,
You wrote the perfect words to help us as a community, as we process the loss of our friends.
Sending love and prayers to all. 💜❤️💜
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Oh Susan we never get used to it do we 😦 there’s no getting used to young vibrant women’s lives being snuffed out like this
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Sending love- this beautiful world of shared words, in which we connect to each other in our essential vulnerability, makes these deaths matter to all of us. Thank you for pausing to acknowledge space for grief.
Marie, and any others keenly feeling loss now, May you be surrounded by as much support and love as you need during this time. Xo iris
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Thank you Iridacea for such beautiful words of comfort. I feel truly blessed by them xxx
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Heartbroken 😭
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