Today  I got a call from my mom that Lou Ann, a best friend of hers for… ever as far as I’ve known, had a stroke and even if they were able to revive her she wouldn’t last another 2 weeks. Mom was upset, of course. She could barely talk. All I wanted to do was go through the phone and hug her but all I could do is try to keep it together and do what she needed me to do. She ask me to text dad and let him know because she was driving and I did. Afterwards I was sitting in my chair at my desk behind my 3 screens trying to catch my breath and process what had happened. It took me a good hour to compose myself enough that I could speak.

Lou Ann was like a 2nd mother to me growing up. She was pretty much always around. Her husband Bill was friends with my dad. Lou Ann and mom were best friends. Bill and Lou Ann had a son, Ryan, that was just a little bit older than myself and my brother. After a while Bill and Lou Ann had a daughter, Amber, and my mom and dad had Bradley, who were the same age. We all pretty much grew up together. Lou Ann made me birthday cakes every year for my birthday.  Even one year when I was a little to old to have a kids birthday party, I was really missing being a kid and Lou Ann made me a birthday cake. No way did I deserve one! I hadn’t seen her for a year or so probably at that point due to sports and camps and life. That’s just how Lou Ann was though. I could not see her or hear about her for a couple of years and then one day I would just see her at Joanne Fabrics or something, shopping with Amber. We would stop, chat, catch up and then go on our way. She was always such a comforting person to be around. Being around her felt like home.

Tonight I sit here, knowing they’re going to take her off of her ventilator after her son Ryan sees her for the last time and I don’t even know how to process it. Lou Ann was a mother and a friend and someone I loved and kept up on yet I didn’t see often enough. Before yesterday I had been praying for Lou Ann because she had cancer and had been going through chemo. I’ve had a couple of friends go through cancer and chemo and survive recently so, though cancer is horrible, I had high hopes for Lou Ann. I just knew she was going to beat it. I’m not a doctor and I haven’t spoken to anyone about it, but I would guess that the stress on her body from the cancer and the chemo is what caused the stroke. SCREW CANCER. One more amazing person with kids, family and friends who loved her taken by this horrible disease.