Tribute to a Life Lived Fully

We are saddened to tell you that Jill passed away yesterday (January 20, 2013). The years of treatment followed by graft-versus-host disease finally took a toll too great for even someone as strong and determined as Jill. You can find Jill’s obituary at the website of the Memorial Funeral Home in Columbia Missouri.

Those of us fortunate enough to know and love Jill will not remember the cancer and illness but rather her strength, determination, generosity and thoughtfulness. Jill did not let her disease and poor health limit her. On the contrary she found more strength, more wisdom, and more ways to connect with others. She developed an extraordinary appreciation for and philosophy of life.

Jill lived a full life. She endured more illness and pain than many do in much longer lives, but more importantly she touched more lives, did more good, and inspired more people than most people ever could. To some she was a lively, witty cousin, niece or friend who brightened their days, and enriched their lives. To others she was a seasoned veteran of cancer treatments who convinced them that there was hope and that there was dignity in their battle no matter what the outcome. To another group she was a caring and understanding counselor who drew on her enormous wisdom and experience to find a unique way of seeing problems and finding solutions. Her illness did not limit her—it was a source of much of her wisdom and strength. To her family she was all of these things and more.

In her last blog post less than a month ago, Jill sensed a need for change. She wrote that her health was stable in an unstable way and that she had decided to repurpose the blog. Instead of recounting the recurring bouts of illness and subsequent recoveries she would share quotes that had touched or amused her. I want to end this final blog post with some of the quotes that Jill had collected over the years. I think you will agree that they offer insight into the beautiful person that Jill was. The world is poorer for her passing, but much, much richer for her life.

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Everything can be taken from us but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances; to choose one's own way.  -Victor Frankyl

First keep peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.  - Thomas A. Kempis

Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.  - Walt Whitman

Let there be many windows in your soul, that all the glory of the universe may beautify it.  - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Always know in your heart that you are far bigger than anything that can happen to you.  - Dan Zadra

Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.  - James Barrie

Everything in the universe has rhythm.  - Maya Angelou

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain.  - Unknown