In sadness and loss, here is inspiration, beauty and dignity.. link about a former colleague/friend

[NRaleighLiberal]

Last edited Wed Nov 20, 2013, 02:30 PM - Edit history (1)

please note I am not the author of this story! It appeared recently in a local newspaper.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/11/18/3384155/two-jackies-and-me-facing-death.html

"Two Jackies and Me: Facing death on one’s own terms"

by Steven Petrow

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"However, as I came to learn, legal and financial preparations are but paperwork. In the past year I realized there are far more powerful, and deeply emotional, steps one might take to prepare for the future – or the end – and to comfort those left behind.

It was another Jacqueline who taught me this advanced placement course in life – and then death.

Jacquie Zinn and I were classmates at Duke in the ’70s and became friends in the ’00s. For the past five years we spent most Saturday mornings together at a Spin class, racing against each other as though we were sister and brother. A triathlete, Jacquie beat me 9 times out of 10 and always left the class, saying, “That was fabulous!” She wasn’t lauding her victories but the very endorphin-filled experience itself.

Then, on a winter’s day last year when we were both planning to attend a friend’s funeral, Jacquie absented herself. At Duke Hospital, she found herself face to face with a diagnosis of glioblastoma, the nastiest of brain cancers. Despite the grim prognosis, this Jacquie, then 55, left no stone unturned, first in seeking a cure, then in hoping for remission. In an 18-month span, she underwent brain surgery, two rounds of radiation, two courses of chemotherapy and a virtual “slice and dice” with the Gamma Knife."

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I was very fortunate to know Jacquie, as a work colleague for over 10 years. This is a remarkable story - be sure to read it all from the link. It is amazing where life's inspiration may come from....she is greatly missed by many.