Goodbye Cathy, We Hardly Knew Ye!

The lady at the left, with the improbably colored sunglasses and the wild wind tossed mane and that great big beautiful smile is gone. Cathy Seipp has died today at about 2:40 PM Pacific time.

Cathy, for those of you who didn't read her was a conservative blogger with wit, verve and a panache that was not to be believed. Her very good friend Susan Estrich wrote a wonderful remembrance of Cathy. A tidbit:

"It has been almost five years since they opened her up and closed her again, concluding that the cancer was inoperable and sending her off for chemotherapy, although for the first three and a half years, she never wrote about it, because she “didn’t want to be written off as Lung Cancer Girl.”

"That’s Cathy. Smart, funny, tough, loving. You couldn’t help but think as she encouraged Maia to skip senior year in high school and apply to college early for more than the combination of the Canadian tradition of surpassing the12th grade and Maia’s own desire for bigger challenges. It was also Cathy sending her off, getting her settled, making the point that she was entitled to her life."

Cathy's Daughter Maia posted on her mother's death only 3 hours later, out of love, out of responsibility, out of appreciation for all of Cathy's readers and friends. Please, read Maia's post as well and consider making a donation to the Lung Cancer Alliance per Maia's request.

As my readers know, this is an insidious disease, it sneaks up on you with little fanfare and few symptoms until it is often to late. Most lung cancer patients don't get the diagnosis until it is far advanced. I was one of the lucky ones, mine was caught very early sheerly by luck as I had gone in for knee surgery. Had the cancer come 6 months earlier, or 6 months after the operation, I would likely not have know until it was too late.

I'm probably going to beat my disease, but if it comes back, as it may well do, I hope that I can face it with the guts, determination and aplomb that Cathy Seipp had. God Rest ye Cathy, you've earned your peace!