This post is commemorating 2 years since I met Lucy and my wonderful Athena Foundation group. They’re all wonderful ladies and have been through a lot these past 2 years. Love you all!
Lucy left this world in early October. I hope she found her way to Heaven. I also hope she got to see her little doggo she’d lost recently - she missed him lots.
Lucy was the person who dragged me over the finish line of the 52-ish mile walk in San Diego in May 2021. She had just started a new chemo regimen right before the walk after being on the drug I had been on - Talazoparib - for about 18 months, if I recall correctly. The night before we started walking we hit up the smores at the hotel and talked.
Lucy was living for every moment. She knew better than any of us around her that her moments were limited.
She also didn’t take any shit. And seriously loved coffee.
And she was the glue that seemed to hold everything around her together. Her family, her friends. Our little Athena group has not been the same since she left. We’ve all wandered back on our paths, and that’s perfectly fine.
I’m just glad I got to meet her. We spent time together on the walk - we were bringing up the rear! Woohoo! We spent time together in Tampa when the whole gang got back together. She made a flan that was freaking amazing. I got the recipe and will attempt to replicate it someday, maybe, but I have to make sure I can put the love into it that she did. That’s a really important ingredient.
We hung out with her and her family in North Carolina. She got to meet Edie and Arthur. Arthur thought he was going to be able to chase down and take on a deer. Good luck, dude. I got to witness her family turn into swamp people after doing a 4-wheeler tour. Yes, it was a little frightening. But some of the pictures are epic.
And the last time I got to hang out with her was for a lunch in Tampa. We brought our husbands, no kids this time, no dogs, just a nice lunch next to the water.
And that was the last time I saw Lucy. That was in June 2022. I’m glad I got to hang out with Lucy as much as I did. And I miss her. A lot. It’s amazing how some people you can know for a very short time, and they make a huge impact on your life.
I wish she could have been here longer. I wish cancer wasn’t such a terrible thing that steals lives. We need to find a cure. Funding. Support.
And love. If someone in your life is sick, hurt, dying - don’t forget to love them. And when they’re gone, do something to honor them. We’re fostering dogs - Lucy loved dogs - so that’s a little thing I can do that I know she’d absolutely approve of.
I wish things were different. I wish she was still here. I wish she got to see all her kids grow up and see where they’d go. I wish she’d got to meet grandbabies. I wish she hadn’t gone so soon so that I could have gotten to know her more.
Love you, Lucy.