Sadness

I found out this afternoon that a former classmate from college died of cancer. Leukemia, to be specific. I didn't even know she was sick. She's actually had leukemia since September, and she died on Wednesday.

Her name was Brianne Tsavatewa. (Saw-VAW-tuh-wa)

She found out she had leukemia (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) in September of last year, and despite agressive treatments, she never got well enough to receive her bone marrow transplant (which is the only thing that could have saved her. Chemo wasn't enough).

She died on Wednesday, June 4th. I only found out this evening.

I'm not going through a crisis of faith or anything, I'm not questioning God as to why bad things happen, and why it had to happen to her. And I know she's in heaven.

I just wonder why it's always the lively ones. The ones that really seemed full of life and joy and laughter. Okay, I guess it's not ALWAYS the lively ones. But Adam was so full of life. And Brianne too.

What I remember of her from college: she laughed a lot, and she laughed loud. Actually, she was just loud in general. And she often said inappropriate things, which got a laugh from everybody else. And she had that Southern charm that I had always heard about, but never known until her (she was from Georgia).

She was a straight talker. She said what she was thinking, or feeling. When she was moody, she was reeeeally moody. But when she was happy? When she was sweet? When she felt like hugging people? It was all the way.

She was also confident in own skin, even when she had to have her head shaved.

And she was completely at peace with everything, in the end.

Can't wait to see you in heaven Brianne. I'm sure it's a much happier (and louder) place because of you.