Heide
had Multiple Myeloma for about 15 years. She almost doubled the
normal lifespan for people with this disease. She and I knew from the
beginning that the disease would claim her. It did finally. But it
did not beat her. She got a lot out of those 15 years. And though her
energy levels and stamina were reduced in recent years, and although
she spent a lot of time in clinics and hospitals, life went on the
rest of the time. She became a master gardner and spent a lot of time
in her yard, both hands on gardening and bossing others of us around
as cheap labor.
She
had taken Spanish 101 at the Community College several times. Over
the last 7 or 8 years she upped the anti and took classes at
Willamette University, first in Spanish, then in several other
subjects; Medieval Art, Japanese Art, 17th Century Art and
Architecture. Then she took on the history of the war in the Pacific,
and the plight of Chinese Women during the Japanese occupation. One
of her classmates in Spanish at Willamette one year was an assistant
football coach, Bubba Lemmon. He turned out to be the grandson of
Meadowlark Lemmon of the Harlem Globetrotters. He even talked her
into going to a football game or two.
In
her spare time, she was constantly running off to massage sessions,
yoga, swimming, beauty parlor stuff, and taking walks when she felt
up to it. She would make a daily to-do list with typically 6 to 10
items, and she would jump in her little car and for the most part go
do them. In her last month, she presided over get togethers at our
place for Hannukkah and Christmas.
She
would engage in occasional discussions about politics, but she would
cut it off abruptly when she got tired of it. She was not going to
let a jerk in the White House spoil her remaining time. Some of the
rest of us might take note.
Heide
had an amazing sense of what life is. She was more alive in her last
few years and months than some ever are.
