Good riddance June 11, 2010 - June 10, 2011

Recently, I was reflecting on the last year and realized how truly awful it has been.

On June 11, 2010, my cousin Cathy lost her brutal 6 month battle with melanoma. Cathy and I were just 2 months apart in age. We did not grow up near each other (she in Chicago and me in NY), but we always had so much fun when together for family events. She left behind a husband, 3 children, 2 parents, 3 siblings, and many other family members. Her death hit me really hard, which coupled with the stress of moving back to the US, made for a really rough few months for me. I am still so MAD and sad that cancer took her so young.

In August, Craig's great aunt Louise passed away. Her death was not quite so difficult to accept since she died about a week short of her 103rd birthday. Both of Craig's grandmother's died before he was born and Louise never had children so she was like the grandmother of the family. She was a really lovely woman who always asked about my parents whenever we saw her, even though she only met them once or twice.

Then, there was January 14,2011... My own cancer diagnosis. March 4, 2011... My bilateral mastectomy. Two days I will never forget.

On May 1, 2011 we lost Craig's "Uncle" George. Technically, he was Craig's first cousin once
removed since George was Craig's Mom's cousin. George and Craig's Mom were both only children. George never married and never had children. We were his only family. He was never in the greatest of health, but his death did come as a shock. He had just turned 73 on April 14.

And to close out this crappy year, my friend Anna was diagnosed with breast cancer in late
May.

Here's to a "new" year filled with more happy events than sad ones!