[Rory]

for all of those here who have lost those close to them recently i feel your pain. my old boss, mentor and great friend died this morning from pancreatic cancer. not 6 months ago she lost one of hr oldest friends to a different cancer, and one of the last things that she said to me was "rory i hate cancer"

you know what? so do i.

i spent about 4 hours with her last night at the hospice house. i hope that she could here what i had to say but will never know. i never could have imagined that one of my best friends and allies in this world would be a woman over twice my age.

to any of you who still partake, stop smoking. i did two years ago and will not start again, and i think that this seals the deal.

rory

 

[Rfleet1066]

Passing

Rory,
I read your pain. Celebrate her life. Maintain yours by staying the course.
Call me if you want to talk. 804-400-8691

Ryland

 

[Lucky#13]

rory, my condolences to you. It is always difficult to lose someone you are close to, whether family or friend. When it is someone who was also a mentor and helped shape you in some fashion, it takes on an additional dimension.

When my father died, in 2000, I found out just how many people he was a mentor and father figure to. I had no idea until these people got up, one by one, and talked about his influence in their lives. Some people have that gift, and it is hard to see the passing of such a one in one's own life. Cancer took my father, but he had been tobacco free for over 30 years, so I can't blame smoking. I am a believer in reasonable rights for smokers as well as non smokers, but I can't imagine why anyone does it. Glad you have stopped, even if that may mean we have a lifetime of your liberal views to put up with!

But take heart and always cherish the time you had with this fine lady, and the impact she had that will last you a lifetime. Who knows, you might even pass some of that on to someone else. Godspeed.

Rollin

 

[blackrifles]

Rory,

Sorry to hear you lost a good friend. I agree with Lucky, there's a basic rule here, when someone teaches you have to take that mentor's knowledge and pass it down. You'll never forget the ones you love and knowledge shared, your students will keep that person's spirit alive, completes the circle.

 

[sdk1968]

Rory,

i feel for you bub... just went thru this myself last week with granpa... just try to remember the better days bub.

sdk

 

[franks71vw]

Rory,

Sorry to hear, we have to stand up and continue and know how to aprreciate life and how short it is. In the last 2 weeks I have lost to family members and it isnt easy but you have to go forward... Use what you learned and pass it along for others to hear.

 

[BeltFedPlus]

Rory, I feel the pain and there is nothing I can say to take away except that I'll be praying for an easing of the pain that you're feeling. All we have left when we lose some one close to us is to remember the good times and funny times. God bless and give you peace in this time.

Tom

 

[phillip]

Rory, Sorry for your loss. I lost one of my sisters to cancer, And I agree that cancer sucks. Stay strong.

 

[Pvt.Joker]

Rory, I'm sorry for your loss, my friend. I wish there were more that could be said, but all you can really hope to do is to make other peoples' lives you cross paths with better, as she did with your own. She sounds like she was a good soul.

 

[Shattered]

to any of you who still partake, stop smoking. i did two years ago and will not start again, and i think that this seals the deal.

rory

Sorry to hear of your loss... and good for you.

I myself quit smoking back in 1986. All at once, cold turkey... almost killed me. And probably the biggest reason I porked out... food tasted good again.

I will lose some of this extra weight, but I also love it ever since Ohio went basically smokeless. I always said it didn't bother me having smokers on the other side of a room in the "smoking section"... but that's kinda akin to being in the "no peeing" section of a pool... doesn't really work all that well.

 

[Mouse]

for all of those here who have lost those close to them recently i feel your pain. my old boss, mentor and great friend died this morning from pancreatic cancer. not 6 months ago she lost one of hr oldest friends to a different cancer, and one of the last things that she said to me was "rory i hate cancer"

you know what? so do i.

i spent about 4 hours with her last night at the hospice house. i hope that she could here what i had to say but will never know. i never could have imagined that one of my best friends and allies in this world would be a woman over twice my age.

to any of you who still partake, stop smoking. i did two years ago and will not start again, and i think that this seals the deal.

rory

I'm sorry to hear about that, there aren't any words that will make any difference at this point.
Maybe you can take some solice in the fact that she knew you, and if she couldn't hear your words she could hear your heart, and that's what really counts anyway.

 

[Rory]

about a year ago an old friend of mine that i had way lost touch with died of another cancer. he was a local contractor that used to get drunk and make me do all the work i learned a lot from him. mostly i learned to know ones own limits or there are real repercussions. that was odd and hard as he was still pretty young. he was only in his mid 40s. went from a short super strong stocky italian dude that could maybe move a garage by pushing on it to a frail alienesque figure. that sucked but mainly just brought me back to my youth.

this one is a bit different for me. i hold this woman in higher regard than my own mother. thats a fact.

mouse, your statement is pretty much how i have to believe. and almost verbatim what her daughters told me last night.

r

 

[BAinMO]

Rory,
Been there done that.
I got to watch as my best friend went from someone with arms almost as big as my legs to a very frail 90ish looking guy that was 52. This after only 1.5 years of retirement. That c chit just flat out SUCKS! I miss CaptRay1917 almost every day. His 17 is here with me lusting for more ammo.
BAinMO

 

[Rory]

Rory,
Been there done that.
I got to watch as my best friend went from someone with arms almost as big as my legs to a very frail 90ish looking guy that was 52. This after only 1.5 years of retirement. That c chit just flat out SUCKS! I miss CaptRay1917 almost every day. His 17 is here with me lusting for more ammo.
BAinMO

looks like the 17 got a good home at least. go feed that thing!

when i was sitting with her a week and a half ago, she told me that she still had these two pictures that i gave her. one was from a trip to brazil.. these are not just pictures i should add, these were for an art show that i was in. the images are about 3'x2' and mounted on a pretty nice thick plastic. she really really liked one of the images so i gave it to her. and another was a painting of me.. (you just have to see it) but she told me that the girls would get them to me, but she didn't want to give them away yet because it made her too sad. that about ripped this crusty ole booger to pieces.

 

[HuecoDoc]

My cousin (Melinda) was diagnosed with kidney cancer when she was 17. She went through 4-5 years of chemo, surgery, radiation but it just kept spreading. She spent her last couple of months in hospice, moved out of state so she could have access to medical marijuana (more power to her), and she just loved looking at several thunderhead/lightning pictures my brother took and framed. It's interesting what people long for and enjoy from that perspective.

Melinda got married when she was about 23 and when it was obvious the cancer would not go away. She lived about 2 more years.

Pancreatic cancer is bad, actually the worst, but a friend of mine is surviving it now for 3-4 years.

 

[GWR1]

Rory,

Sorry for your loss. Yes, pancreatic cancer is amongst the worst. Cancer sucks.

If one wants to read a good book -- about living our days we have -- there's a best-seller out now. "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch, Phd., Carnegie Mellon Institute, Brown University and University of Virginia. Into virtual reality programing, Imagineering, Disney consultant, Star Wars creator, etc. Three really young kids and a beautiful wife, was diagnosed in September of '06 and, as of this last Father's Day, still "passing it on!" Check out "The Alice Program" on-line -- makes kids (and the rest of us) think theyr'e playing, when theyr'e actually learning! The actual lecture, from "The Last Lecture" is also on-line.

Carry On!
Gary
><>

 

[GS-Patton]

My thoughts and prayers to yah rory

Cancer is some bad stuff, My mom had it and my sister had it, both are doing well now... the worst I ever saw was my grandmothers Pastor, he got stomach cancer... he was not even able to eat, all he could put in his stomach was water, he survived a lil over a year on IV's for food... I dont think I could have done it, I enjoy eating far too much

 

[rugman59]

Hey Rory,
My condolences to you . Losing a good friend hurts,but as long as you keep her in your heart , she will never be truly gone.We are all products of what we see and who we learn from in this life. Sounds to me like you were very lucky to have her in your life.
Take care bud.

Bruce

 

[Bill S]

Pancreatic cancer is bad, actually the worst, but a friend of mine is surviving it now for 3-4 years.

Tell him not to give up hope. My uncle was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when he was in his mid 80's. They told him that at his age there was even less they could do to help him than if he'd been younger, so they told him to relax and enjoy what time he had left. My uncle, however, was not the kind of guy to surrender. He kept on going, and finally died in his late 90's of an unrelated issue. (Septicemia - an infection that went systemic before it was caught.)