Most you probably already know by now but, after a really brutal battle with cancer, Matt's Aunt Nancy died Feb. 5 at home. She found out that she had Stage 4 cancer in October. Before that, she didn't even know she was sick.The chances for surviving Stage 4 lung cancer are close to zero, and the disease tore her body apart pretty quickly. At Thanksgiving she was very tired, at Christmas she was exhausted and she was gone before Valentine's Day. She didn't complain. Just the opposite: she joked, wore funny wigs and danced to her favorite song on her last day. We should all be so tough and so happy in such circumstances.
Very sad, obviously, but Nancy gave us a lot of great memories. She was a fireball of loving energy. If you met her, you probably didn't forget. She definitely didn't forget you. She would ask specific questions about Matt's college friends years after she'd last seen them. From her obit: "She remembered your successes and cared about your struggles, and never hesitated to brag about the achievements of her husband, her kids, a sibling, nieces, nephews or a friend."
Her funeral was very nice. There must have been 500 people at the wake and half of Naperville had to be shut down for the funeral procession. Lots of tears, but plenty of laughs telling Nancy stories.
We will miss her. Family parties will still be wonderful, but maybe not quite as lively.
Please keep Tom, Sara, Michael and the rest of the family in your thoughts.
1 comment:
We're sorry to hear that, Matt. My grandfather died of lung cancer as well,(back in 05) and it was the same thing. He was at stage 4 before we knew he was sick, and then he went very quickly.
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