I met DJ in 2003 when we both worked at MarketSource. She was one of the most unique and “edgy” women I have ever had the privilege to know and I am honored that she considered me her friend. She was one cool lady, and as Erskine said, “she rode a mean motorcycle to boot.” She had a fantastic dry wit and a great sense of humor, too, as exemplified in some of my favorite pictures of her, taken at a Halloween party…she came dressed-to-kill in purple velour and leopard print as a female pimp :) She had a sort of quiet intenseness about her...I told her she reminded me of Danai Gurira’s character Michonne of “The Walking Dead.” And like Michonne and her walker-deadly katana samurai sword, Deej emanated a “speak softly and carry a big stick” vibe…but if you knew her, you also knew she had a huge heart.
Deej was pragmatic and would cut right to it. She had quite a sense of irony and knew how to put things in perspective. Although her cancer was terminal, when I saw her a couple of months ago, she had just found out that a new treatment protocol had yielded some excellent results and had, temporarily at least, appeared to have stopped the spread of her cancer. I said to her, “That’s great news!! What are you going to do to celebrate???” She said: “Live a little longer.”
Deej, the world is a far less interesting place without you in it…miss you. I hope that wherever you are, you’re tearing around on a motorcycle.