August 11

My hero

My hero, Connie Lister.

Connie was one of my supervisors at the community college where I work. The woman was a walking stand up show. Wherever she went, we laughed.

Several months ago, Connie went to the doctor. She had been coughing and feeling "puny" for some time, and thought that she had bronchitis that just would not go away.

:(

Can we say lung cancer, boys and girls? crap. Not what we wanted to hear, and definitely not what Connie wanted.

She started her chemo, and it was a good report then a bad one, then a good one, then a bad one. Up and down, up and down. Finally, it simply got to where she could not work.

This picture was made on August 11, 2006 at a "Celebration of Life" party her children had for her at the Basic Skills Building where we work. She is a huge Jimmy Buffett fan (she intended on leaving hospice one night to make his local concert -- 2 hours away), so it was a tropical theme going.

Education was a very important thing to Connie. She loved the students and would always encourage them. As a result, it was announced at her party that a scholarship had been created in her name and would provide at least one (maybe two) annual scholarships to Haywood Community College, for a Basic Skills Graduate (Adult High School or GED), in Connie's name. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. The children also announced that any money from Connie's estate would go to the scholarship instead of them.

Connie, You are and will always be an inspiration to me. I loved the time I wasted (on the clock, no less) while we swapped family stories and laughed until we cried. Your outlook on life always cheered me up, and your sense of humor is one that will never be matched or even rivaled. I could always count on you to be honest about what I was doing, in life and in the classroom. And thanks for all the "pregnant advice" you offered and for all the times you kept me calm when I thought I was approaching a crisis.

I love you.