I’ve been missing from Tattle for a few weeks because life has a way of changing. My partner’s mother had her annual mammogram on July 1. The image showed something “odd” so a biopsy was performed. It had some markers for cancer, but not all…so the surgeon decided to treat it as if it was cancer. She had a lumpectomy and the doctor discovered the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes. Additional scans were done and we learned the cancer had spread to her bones…spine, ribs, pelvis, and skull. The cancer was very aggressive…in a matter of weeks, she went from a strong, active, independent woman to needing a cane, then a walker, then a wheelchair…until she was completely bedridden. The pain was excruciating. Even the strongest IV pain medication had little effect. She passed away on August 28, less than two months after her routine mammogram. She was 70 years old.
She wasn’t a queen or a fairytale princess living in a castle. She was an ordinary person. Her illness and death was so unfair. She was so kind and compassionate, a mom and nana who was devoted to her sons and her grandson. My partner and I have been together for 20 years and she always treated me as if I were her own son. She volunteered at a community center and spent hours caring for home bound seniors. She loved to garden. She didn’t have a lot of money but would give her last dollar to someone in need.
There’s no need to respond to this message. I just wanted to say a few words about her life. In my eyes, this humble woman who passed away was a greater person than SJ, with all her grifting and fakery, could ever hope to be.