I apologize in advance for the fact that there have been so many heavy posts on my Facebook page lately. I try to post a lot of fun or lighthearted or positive posts in general. However, I feel compelled to ACKNOWLEDGE that today should have been the 31st birthday for TRULY one of THE WARMEST, KINDEST and most COURAGEOUS people Ive ever met. Her name was/is Brianna Bailey-Dodge. I literally only met her once but she changed my life forever. I was with Anne at a conference at Massachusetts General Hospital for people with rare types of sarcomas (ie, bone cancers). She younger than me but also was an amputee. She bowled me over with her high energy, her super friendly, warm personality and amazing spirit which struck me as a combination of life affirming, resilient, courageously optimistic, honest, real, and hopeful. I was moved and floored frankly by this whirlwind of life-affirming energy from a young person who I learned as time went on had suffered and continued to suffer more than ANYONE should, but ESPECIALLY such a TRULY good person. (I dont say that because she died tragically young but BECAUSE it is TRUE). For the first and (so far) only time in my life, I NOW had a PEER: another young (young-ISH person in my case) who not only had cancer but a RARE type of bone cancer AND was an amputee! Selfishly, for me, it was nice to not be THE ONLY PERSON I knew in my category. We even had the same oncologist (Dr. Harmon) and surgeon (Dr. Wain). We had the same rare type of surgery on our lungs and Brianna was able to give me advice on how to recover from that difficult surgery. It was great in some ways, having a true PEER but I always felt sick about it because I knew how brutal what it meant to go through what weve were going through and it made my heart hurt thinking of such a beautiful person suffering the way I had (and ultimately even more than me). My heart also hurt for her young husband Jason and I know that Anne must be able to relate in some ways to her peer, the peer of someone who gave their heart to someone who was suffering so much at such a young age. Brianna, like many of you to me stayed, a great Facebook friend to me and we would talk on the phone or chat periodically and the friendship meant a LOT to me. She had an open invitation for Anne and/or I to visit her and her beloved husband Jason in the state of Vermont she loved so well. I had no doubt in my mind I would take her up on her kind, gracious offer eventually. I was just waiting for a moment when my health would finally give me the strength to make that trip. Tragically, I never got that chance. Brianna passed a few months ago and today on her birthday her loss is perhaps feeling more real and painful than ever for me. My heart is truly broken as Im writing this but then I think of how hard it must for those who knew and loved her best and/or longest. My heart especially hurts for her husband Jason and for Briannas closest friends and family. Whatever Im feeling, I know pales in comparison to the loss they all feel. For those of you who believe in prayer or energy please send some to her and Jason and her friends and family. Whatever you believe, I would be touched if some of you took some time to go to her facebook page or read the obituary link I will be putting in the comments below. You can read about this BEAUTIFUL, UNFORGETTABLE person and perhaps you can reach out to support her friends and family or the charities and causes she believed in as a way of honoring someone so deserving of being honored today and always. I will miss Brianna but have love in my heart for her the rest of my life. I will carry her memory and spirit with her forever.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 16:45:05 +0000
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