Happy Birthday Kristen

Been feeling really down this past week. Home sick, missing my niece & nephew, feeling isolated because of the home-limbo situation, feeling dejected and rejected in my currently unsuccessful job search…down

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Then Facebook reminded me that it was Kristen Schneidler Schultz’s birthday today, June 4th. Kristen was my neighbor freshman year at John Carroll University, 1994/1995. Kristen lost her battle with brain cancer March 8, 2012. I had run into her here and there at JCU, and also at alum events and such later on. We weren’t close, but we were very friendly. So it came as a shock to me to see her obituary posted to Facebook by a mutual friend roughly around March 12th.

I had no idea.

As I said, we were not close, but I have everything good to say about her. She was super nice, gracious, kind, sweet…we just didn’t have a whole heck of a lot in common I guess. Don’t know. But I always liked her. I was going to go to her funeral, but things got weird here at home. All of the Seattle Move stuff started brewing around that time…George’s surprise interviews, a business trip for me, quickly followed by our “interview” trip, in addition to me being sick as a dog. Life got in the way.

Irony?

Today the Birthday reminder came from a “remembrance” page someone had set up in Facebook. I remembered at that moment, and it was a bit of a punch to the gut, remembering that she has a daughter. I started flipping through old posts and found out her husband had set up a Caring Bridge page in the last month of her life.

I read it tonight.

I cried a lot.

Yep, she was one hell of  a graceful lady.

Her daughter’s name is Annie…she is old enough to talk…the last sounds Kristen heard before slipping away were Annie’s giggles while her feet were tickled.

Searching desperately for answers back in March as to what the HELL happened…why was there an obituary for Kristen?!?! I managed to piece together that she had brain cancer, BUT NOT ONLY THAT. She had left her regular job and had been working with, or set up some sort of non-profit support group for brain cancer sufferers and their families. Again, we weren’t close, but of what I remember, this makes perfect sense for Kristen. She may have been…down…

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but her reaction was ACTION. I’m humbled. I’m alive. I have hit what feels like a wall, but it’s just one of those little retaining walls on the edge of a garden…the one you don’t see because someone didn’t weed or edge it so it’s annoying when you trip on it and turn your ankle…I’m babbling.

I’m alive.

Annie is alive.

Her mother’s memory is alive.

Happy Birthday Kristen.

I’m lucky. I get to go to bed, wake up, and start a new day.

xo
en