I say yes, you say no, OR People are Strange

kad2kar

LIBBY-Thank You for showing our Love to Athena's Family.  I joined you in the only way available to me,I Googled the church and sent a prayer as I stared  at a photo of the church at 11:00 my time.

 Thank you again.----kad2kar

juliaanna

Libby, thank you.

ananda8

L-

Thank you.

steelrose

Thank you, Libby. My heart aches to think that Athena is gone, but I'm glad that she won't be in any more pain. I tried to encourage her after she progressed to Stage IV, as we shared similar circumstances. She even joked that the two of us would have to put up with NED being a bigamist... then she went silent. I knew that she would not be defined by Stage IV cancer, that her life was on her terms. She is at peace.  

suzieq60

Libby - thankyou for telling us about the service - I'm so glad her family now know how much we loved her.

Did they say what was wrong? Was it the cancer in her liver? I still can't come to terms with her incredibly rapid decline - it just makes no sense.

Momine

Libby, thank you for representing us all and doing it so well. I will wear black Alexander McQueen (virtual) today in her honor. The red lining is for her feistiness and fierceness.

covertanjou

Thank you, Libby. I'm so glad her family knows how much we loved and respected Athena.



She always had everyone's back, and fought for what what she believed in: a kinder, gentler and fairer world.



She will be so missed

Marple

R.L.  Your mention of Konakat is the first time since her death that someone talking about her here on the boards actually brought a smile to my face.  Thank you for that and for describing yesterday so perfectly.  ((((RL))))

Chevyboy

I'm so sorry about Athena!  I didn't know....  I'm sorry for all her friends who miss her so deeply.  I loved all of the pictures she posted...... I don't think there are any words left....  Take good care.....

pupmom

Thank you so much HL. 

bluedahlia

Excellent HL!

hrf

HL, in Judiasm, there is word for what you did. It's called a "mitzvah" and it means that you did something that was a blessing.....a good deed that was exceptional. I'm sure you helped Athena's family in their time of sorrow and brought some comfort to them.

gardengumby

Thank-you, Libby, for attending her service, representing all of us so well, and for retelling the service to all of us. We will miss her.

Anonymous

what hrf said, RL.  To add, that makes you a mensch But we all knew that.

No more words to add to what all have said, and that picture, Jackie, I was crying while reading the words - and that picture, that picture, oh how true, "a picture worth a 1,000 words"

Athena would have ADORED the McQueen dress, and then one of us would have made a funny crack about "those shoes?"

GOOD NEWS, enjoyful, GOOD NEWS....now time to find the med to whack it out of da bones, dem bones, dem bones, humming a little...

I'm now imagining Elizabeth & Pamela having the most delicious chocolate cake, and always in my mind Elizabeth is wearing that pink wig - do you think they have motorcycles "up there" - furry friends at their sides munching the crumbs....

If anyone ever comes on to this thread and makes a nasty crack, or a snide remark, there's gonna be a HUGE PAW thwompin' them...I'd say throwing brussel sprouts, but they're too busy eating all that chocolate. Wine too.

crazy4carrots

Remembering dear KonaKat/Elizabeth too.  Just two years ago this month when some of us had our own celebration of her life --

pip57

HL, you described the visit with Athena's family so well I felt as if I really was peeking out from you purse.  Thank you for doing that.  

I don't know if Athena would enjoy the cake (and ice cream, of course) as much as KK.  Maybe she would prefer a good meat pie!

RetiredLibby

Athena LOVED sweets! She loved Cadbury chocolate - the real kind, made in England, not the stuff made in Pennsylvania under that Cadbury's label.



I'm glad I was able to go to the service yesterday. It was very hard but equally very rewarding. I'm grateful that I could bring some comfort to her family by telling them how much she was loved here and how important a presence she was in our lives. And I'm grateful I could bring comfort to our sisters here by taking their love and sorrow to Athena's family and giving our sisters a voice. It helps me to have been able to do that.



L

gardengumby

Not having said this enough lately - Thank-you, all of you, for being here.  This is a crappy disease, but it's brought all of you into my life, and for that i am grateful. 

E - so very glad the cancer is not in your organs.  That is very good news. 

Changed my avatar to reflect our lion continuing to plant good things, even through her death. 

Sunny - as you say, snide remarks are NOT welcome - but still, those SHOES!!! .  I never met KonaKat, but if her name reflects a place - Kona is one of my favorite places - not that I've been able to visit that many places, but still .  'sides, anyone who likes chocolate has gotta be great.

QuinnCat

Libby - I'm so glad you could tell Athena's family about Athena on BCO.  You described it perfectly and when I read your words describing yesterday, I can physically feel the energy you brought to that memorial.  Thank you.

It is hard to come to this thread, since this news, without shedding a tear.  A tribute to the impact that Athena had on me, even if only in the virtual world.  

crazy4carrots

gg:  KonaKat chose her BCO name through her love of Kona coffee and her cats.  And she loved chocolate cake and ice cream!  And she was funny as heck!  When she first came on to BCO she lived in Boston.  When she turned Stage IV, having kept her Canadian citizenship, she moved back here to ensure that she received healthcare.  It's situations such as hers that remind all of us the crucial importance of universal access to healthcare.

I continue to be astounded when reading U.S. news reports of how the Repubs are desperately trying to get rid of Obamacare which would mean some 45 million citizens with no insurance.  How very heartless can they continue to be?

RetiredLibby

In fact, there shouldn't be one single person on these boards who is against the Affordable Care Act unless they are gazillionaires.  My insurance was prohibited by regulation (even before Obamacare) from imposing lifetime limits, but I know many, many people who did not have that safety net.  It astounds me that there are people who have had a major illness who think that it is OK that other people have no insurance.  SMH.

L

ETA:  And in fact, even gazillionaires shouldn't be against the ACA because everyone deserves health care in this country.  Or are they the type of people who would step over the bodies of sick and dying people to go to the bank?

kayfh

Definitely, not those shoes!

Thank you, everyone of you, for being here.  Thank you for loving, sharing, laughing, crying, growling, being outraged, fighting back... 

Athena was a very very special person. We will not see her like again.

Kay

RetiredLibby

One more story about Athena ... as things come up in the next few days, I may relate more stories from the wake as I remember them.

Regarding her fashion sense (lust!):  one of her sisters told a story of the time their mother gave each of them $300 to buy things for college.  One sister industriously shopped the sales, coming home with lots of jeans and tops and shoes for school.  The other sister bought a large number of record albums and some clothes on sale.  Athena went to a high-end store (Neiman-Marcus or Bloomies or Lord & Taylor, I can't remember which one), and bought a beautiful bright red sweater for $300.  The family laughed.  The sister who was relating the story then said that a few weeks later, she went into Athena's room in the morning to wake her and there she was, sleeping in her beautiful bright red sweater.  The sister woke her up and said, "What are you doing, sleeping in that expensive sweater?!"  Athena said, "Most people buy beautiful things and put them away for later.  They use them once or twice and then don't use them anymore.  This is the most beautiful and comfortable thing I own, and I'm going to use it.  I wanted to sleep in it and so I did."  That's our Athena! 

L

Anonymous

Oh, dear HL - my eyes were almost dry until I read the red sweater story.

Yes, LUST is the word, for life, fashion and REAL ( english or belgium) chocolate, social justice, human rights  (HRC in Bejing at the 1995 UN International Women's Conference representing the USA as First Lady said: "Women's rights are human rights"  Just in case anyone is thinking 2016 yet . 

And everyone has My Permission ( ) to snark da shoes....low boots, actually, without nearly enuf room for my bunions....Keen Forever, until I get to the nearest town that sells SAS shoes

But I'll never hear the word Prada without thinking of Our Lioness...

gardengumby

what a smart, funny lady - that story of her reminds me of my hubby (in reverse!!).  I bought him a sweater that cost me a LOT of money (comparatively speaking, as at the time I was a single mom, not making much money, and every penny was committed somewhere or other).  Anyway, he loved the sweater so much that he wouldn't wear it, as he didn't want to hurt it.  By the time he finally thought "now I'll wear it" it no longer fit him, and he had to give it away.  Athena was much more attuned to what should be done with beautiful things that we love.  Wear them at every opportunity. (Also, if it's a gift, the giver doesn't get her feelings hurt.)

Bren-2007

Sunnyflowers ... this one is for you!

hugs

Bren

Anonymous

Oh, bren - more tears - isn't that THE BEST. 

She & Athena are making such good trouble "up there" - "out there" - in the stars, in the flowers, in the sunshine, always in our hearts, and someday it won't hurt so much...someday...

gardengumby

Is the lady in the pink hair KonaKat?

What I have found most interesting about the hatred of the ACA, as well as all of the other things that some people "love" to hate about our President, is that if they hear anything that supports their position of dislike they will repeat it and repeat it ad infinitum.  Whereas if they hear anything that is positive it is simply untrue (or the person who made the statement is stupid, or unreasoning).  They do not want to consider any racial overtones in their own (or any other republican's speech), even as they see racial overtones in almost any statement made by either of the Obamas (or just about any democrat). 

I received yet another email containing a bunch of anti-Obama statements the other day.  Usually I just delete them, as I have grown weary of tearing them apart piece by piece and sending back a letter stating all the reasons each of their "points" is in error.  So, I ask, what do all of you do?  Or have you managed to remove all your repressive "friends" from your email and/or fb pages?  And (since I'm asking questions), why oh why is it that for the most part the people I know who are either evangelicals or Mormons are the ones most likely to hate our current president and claim that he is the worst thing to ever happen to our nation, the worst president ever, the biggest liar, etc, etc, etc....????  Most of the Catholics, Methodists, Lutherans, etc. (what used to be considered mainstream religiouns) are either Dems or moderate Republicans and seem to like him just fine (or at most dislike some of his/Democrat policies).  I get so confused...

IllinoisLady

GG....most of the people I know --  very especially the ones I know well, are told up front that I will not discuss politics and religion.  Period.  I value their friendship and wish to keep it and hope they feel the same about me.  One of the biggest reasons ( aside from the fact that everyone here have shown themselves to be sensitive, kind, caring people ) that I so enjoy this thread is that I can "absolutely wallow" in general Democratic politics with people who mainly feel the same. I don't have the style, grace, quick wit and great knowledge of most here, but it is just another reason for me to enjoy the atmosphere and company. 

Jackie

crazy4carrots

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