Thankful for Special Moments

I often say that years from now, when I look back on my life and career, I’ll ask myself, “What do you wish you had done?”

In the case of my sister Sherry, I will say I did everything I could.

Many of you know the story of Sherry’s battle with multiple myeloma. Her courageous fight ended on May 30th after a sudden fall in her home.  It was a blessing for her, but tremendously difficult for us.

When I resigned to help care for Sherry while she received treatment in a clinical trial, I got plenty of attention for leaving a high-powered job. But the story was never about me. It was about Sherry, and her bravery in the face of this insipid, inexorable disease. She fought it like the champ our father raised us to be, the hard-nosed farm girls who don’t like to lose. But despite her grit, she knew and accepted her ultimate fate, and had left a special letter for my other sister, Shelley, and me just in case.

In recent months, stem cell treatment had been working, but difficult complications (including graft-vs-host disease) and other side effects had her in and out of the hospital. Multiple myeloma can cause bone pain, thinning bones and broken bones which make it easy to fall. Her fall caused internal bleeding and due to her low platelets, caused by her disease, her blood could not clot to stop it.

The year I spent with Sherry was incredibly special, and then Shelley had a special year after that. In that time, Sherry experienced a lot of life’s precious, “extra” moments...the birth of two grandchildren, walking Shelley down the aisle, our special sister time in Florida and weekends together as a trio. For as long as we can remember, it was the three of us, working like a tricycle.

Now our trike is missing a wheel.

Sherry’s memory will live on through the foundation we started in her honor, More Moments More Memories. Instead of flowers, her wish was for donations to the foundation, to assist people with cancer and their caregivers, who are often so desperately in need of help. The we work we do matters— it literally helps provide more moments for more memories, for patients AND family members. Urgency is important, and I ask that you visit the site to learn more about how you can help.

We’ll miss Sherry terribly, in ways words can’t express at this time. She was our sister, our friend, our partner in managing farms in Iowa, an aunt and grandmother to my son, and one of the most important people in our life. I miss her terribly now.

Rest In Peace with Mom and Dad, dear sister. You’ve more than earned it.

Your Loving Sister