| Linda was always great to me, especially when I really, really needed someone to be great to me. Linda has loved me most when I was most unlovable. There's a word for that kind of love... unconditional. My biological mother wasn't capable of that. Linda was. If it weren't for Linda, I wouldn't be here to write this now. Linda had a son with the man she married following the divorce from Krissy's, and my, father. His name is J.T. He's only sixteen years old. I have spoken with Linda. We've said good-bye. There are moments like this in life- when there's no putting things off until you're ready to deal with them, when there are no miracles to be hoped for or expected anymore, and when you're helpless to do anything but pray. And such moments blow monumentally. So please keep Linda, Krissy and J.T. in your prayers. return to the main page |
 |
| I wrote this after we found out the cancer had returned. A few of my friends and I keep on-line journals as a way of communicating with each other. This is something I actually wrote for my personal site to tell my friends about Linda and what she has meant to me throughout my life, so it�s a real honor to be able to share it with Linda�s friends too- Brandi |
The Hardest Words To Say You have all heard me talk about Linda over the years, if you haven't also met her personally. It was awful when she and my father got divorced. It wasn't only sad that the marriage was over. I felt horrible for my little sister, Kristina, who was only a baby at the time. I was about ten years old. I thought the divorce meant that I would lose Linda on top of everything else. I didn't, and I'm very grateful for that fact. But I'm losing her now. So is everyone else who loves her. Five years ago, Linda was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. Her doctors gave her a 20% chance of surviving longer than two years. Only they didn't know Linda. Inside the elegant lady, there's a scrappy, butt-kicking fighter. That's why I'm not at all surprised that Linda more than doubled the time that her doctors assumed she had left. Around Christmas time, Linda received a clean bill of health. Then a month ago, she began to suffer pain in her neck. The scans showed that the cancer had not only spread there, it was everywhere. |
| Linda's body has begun to shut down despite her will. We are now into the final hours, days at most. Linda was technically my step-mother. |
| In my heart though, she's the only real mom I've ever had. |
| As far as diseases go, cancer is certainly one of the most cowardly, sneaking around like it does until it's too late. |