I remember first showing up to the office in Las Vegas, a little shy, a little hesitant, and very nervous. Within a couple of weeks I would be shipped out to Quantico to spend seven weeks in training...all alone. My coworkers reassured me not to worry that another co-worker from the office was already at Quantico and would help show me the ropes. Upon my arrival to Quantico I first met Linda. She had to be the most friendly, outgoing person there. I remember her coming up to me and saying, "you must be Kristi!". I thought to myself, this has got to be Linda, and sure enough I was right.
I have spent ten years knowing Linda. She was always was so friendly and boisterous and always had a hello and how are you doing every time you saw her. When I was pregnant with Kadence, Linda's sister was pregnant with her first child and Linda would often share her sister's stories about the pregnancy with me and boy could I relate. She always had a tendency to make you just feel okay, I think her positive, friendly attitude just rubbed off on you every time you encountered her.
It wasn't until a few weeks ago that we learned that Linda was suffering from cancer and that things had not been going well. For over a year and a half Linda was going for treatments everyday at the Air Force base prior to coming to work. A year and a half and none of us knew. All I could ask myself is how could she hide this from everyone. Obviously her family knew and I think she had a strong support group of friends but why would she hide this from us, her work family who would help her in anyway possible.
In February, Linda got worse and was admitted to the hospital, then to assisted living, then to Hospice and finally home where she could rest in peace surrounded by those who loved her. Her daughter had come into work last week and stated that Linda's cancer had spread from the lymph nodes into her brain and had now reached her spinal fluid. Those close to cancer who were familiar with terminal cancer indicated that unfortunately, Linda did not have much time left here on earth.
Her daughter had invited everyone to an Open House for Linda on April 11. For some reason, I just didn't want to wait to visit her and myself and a coworker, Joe, paid a visit to Linda last Wednesday. I was surprisingly shocked at how well she looked. Her face was slightly bloated and she had obviously lost her hair from her treatments, but she still looked like Linda. She had thrush from all of the medication so she couldn't speak real well and had to whisper but she was in great spirits and was jabbing jokes back and forth with Joe. We spent about an hour with her, learning about the last two years of her life, her struggles and everything she was trying to overcome. When we asked her why she didn't want anyone to know she explained that she just wanted some normalcy in her life. What a courageous woman. When we got up to leave she asked that we please come to the Open House which we reassured her that nothing would keep us away. She insisted that I bring my babies with me, she wanted to see them.
When I got to work this morning my supervisor called me into his office and informed me that Linda had passed away last night. Shock, sadness and disbelief overcame me. All I could say was, "she didn't look ready to go." This was all so sudden, so unexpected and so unbelievable. She left a husband and two beautiful daughters behind. But Linda is in a better place, a place that will suit her well for her smile will surely help light up the skies.
We will miss you dearly Linda.
I have spent ten years knowing Linda. She was always was so friendly and boisterous and always had a hello and how are you doing every time you saw her. When I was pregnant with Kadence, Linda's sister was pregnant with her first child and Linda would often share her sister's stories about the pregnancy with me and boy could I relate. She always had a tendency to make you just feel okay, I think her positive, friendly attitude just rubbed off on you every time you encountered her.
It wasn't until a few weeks ago that we learned that Linda was suffering from cancer and that things had not been going well. For over a year and a half Linda was going for treatments everyday at the Air Force base prior to coming to work. A year and a half and none of us knew. All I could ask myself is how could she hide this from everyone. Obviously her family knew and I think she had a strong support group of friends but why would she hide this from us, her work family who would help her in anyway possible.
In February, Linda got worse and was admitted to the hospital, then to assisted living, then to Hospice and finally home where she could rest in peace surrounded by those who loved her. Her daughter had come into work last week and stated that Linda's cancer had spread from the lymph nodes into her brain and had now reached her spinal fluid. Those close to cancer who were familiar with terminal cancer indicated that unfortunately, Linda did not have much time left here on earth.
Her daughter had invited everyone to an Open House for Linda on April 11. For some reason, I just didn't want to wait to visit her and myself and a coworker, Joe, paid a visit to Linda last Wednesday. I was surprisingly shocked at how well she looked. Her face was slightly bloated and she had obviously lost her hair from her treatments, but she still looked like Linda. She had thrush from all of the medication so she couldn't speak real well and had to whisper but she was in great spirits and was jabbing jokes back and forth with Joe. We spent about an hour with her, learning about the last two years of her life, her struggles and everything she was trying to overcome. When we asked her why she didn't want anyone to know she explained that she just wanted some normalcy in her life. What a courageous woman. When we got up to leave she asked that we please come to the Open House which we reassured her that nothing would keep us away. She insisted that I bring my babies with me, she wanted to see them.
When I got to work this morning my supervisor called me into his office and informed me that Linda had passed away last night. Shock, sadness and disbelief overcame me. All I could say was, "she didn't look ready to go." This was all so sudden, so unexpected and so unbelievable. She left a husband and two beautiful daughters behind. But Linda is in a better place, a place that will suit her well for her smile will surely help light up the skies.
We will miss you dearly Linda.
3 comments:
Thanks for posting this. I remember how nice she was to me when I first started working there. She always talked to me, which helped the transition. We talked about wanting more vacations. She's on a heavenly vacation now. Darn! It just isn't fair!
I didn't have a chance to get to know Linda, but I still was able to find out what a nice and friendly person she was. She was the first person outside of our group to introduce herself to me and help make me feel welcome in the office. It seems like such a trivial thing, but it meant a lot to me.
So sorry for the loss you're feeling. She sounded like a great lady. Very nice post.
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