Quote of the Day: “Be the kind of woman who, when her feet hit the floor in the morning, the Devil says, ‘Oh no, she’s up'”.
Last Thursday, Erin, Joe and I took off for Klamath Falls around 3:00 P.M. Erin’s husband and son, Mark and Brady, would be driving from Seattle to join us on Friday. We traveled from Winnemucca to Klamath on the loneliest stretch of road in the dark with absolutely no services for 300 miles. Good thing we filled up gas in Winnemucca. When we awoke on Friday morning, we searched for a nature trail and ended up seeing a bit of Klamath and shortly there after made our way to Lynne’s house. It didn’t feel right to be standing in Lynne’s kitchen without her physically there but I could certainly feel her spirit. I loved looking around her house and seeing all the pictures and decorations she had hanged. I really believe that we will regret in life what we didn’t do, not what we did do (for most of us, anyway.) I’m ashamed to say that we never took a family trip to Klamath Falls the entire 20 years that Lynne lived there. I know we were busy doing good things, but really, I am asking myself why I didn’t take the time to show my boys where their cousins lived and for my sake, where my sister found so much happiness.
Which leads me to the next part. Lynne loved and was loved in Klamath Falls. On Friday, I talked for a moment with the checker at the local supermarket. He asked if I was passing through town and I said I had come for a funeral. He said “For Lynne” and then I couldn’t really maintain my composure as tears welled up in my eyes. He said that Lynne used to come in all the time and he remembered her bald head and her struggle with cancer. He said that she battled against cancer like nobody’s business. He went on to say the Lynne was his mom’s mail carrier. How amazing, that in just a few minutes I could learn how my sister touched other’s lives.
On Saturday morning, we all got up early, dressed in our bright PINK “Play for the Cure” shirts sold by the local high school for their upcoming volleyball tournament. We met at the golf course with family and friends to participate in a tournament in Lynne’s honor. I’m not much of a golfer but I had a great time playing best ball. I’m so glad that I got to meet Lynne’s friends- I can see why she enjoyed them so much.
The local paper did an article about the volleyball tournament saying: Five years ago, Lynne Starley was the first breast cancer survivor to talk about her ordeal before several hundred people at the first Play for the Cure volleyball match, that was held September 18, 2007. Starley’s memory will be among the focal points Tuesday at the 5th annual event…” This event is a senior project intended to raise money for breast cancer awareness. They quoted Lynne when she said “Cancer is not fair,”…”I hope I live to see the day when we have a cure for it.”
High school picture of Lynne
Mark and Erin- golfing tournament in Lynne’s honor
No comments yet.