My friend Jeanne died in October. I had known her for many years. Jeanne was the first person to inform me that when I got high my personality changed. She did this as a youngster in sixth grade. She was a very bright child. I was there when she found out that she had cancer rather than the scoliosis that she had been told that she had. In spite of her health, Jeanne graduated from high school and then went on for a Bachelor's degree and a Master's. Together we had gone on various road trips and when I moved away, she came to visit. There was one summer that she and I both worked at the same agency. She would drive up and stay with me for four days, and then drive back home for three days. Now she is dead.
Jeanne had von Recklinghaus disease which from my layperson's understanding is a cancer of the nerve cell endings. She told me once that the tumors will get closer and closer to the brain and the spinal cord as time goes by. She died of respiratory failure and was removed from life support the day after a re-admit to the hospital. Dammit.
In our last e-mail correspondance, we talked about my dad and his dementia. She remembers him when he was younger and healthy. I was feeling alone with it back in September and Jeanne was there for me. I didn't have to fake happiness. Although we both had our own despair, we bonded in strength and in laughter. This was true right up through the last e-mails.
I know her family and her community and the folks she knew at DefCon will miss her. I will miss her also.
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