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Day 8 of 30 days of gratitude.

Today I dedicate this blog to Sissy Jo.  Today would have been JoJobean's 47th birthday and she lived every moment the best that she could.  I am forever grateful that I spent her last night on earth with her.  It was like old times when we had a lot of Sissy sleep-over's, watching "ghosty" shows, chatting, being sisters.   That night she told me her dreams for me and what she was sure would be my reality for the future.

What people didn't see was JoAnn's fight.  When it was posted on Facebook that she had passed away, so many of my own family and friend's commented that they didn't even know she was still sick.  In fact, she was on her way to do payroll when she collapsed, the afternoon she passed away.  She had set-up a makeshift office at home, because her dedication to the work and people she cared about, never stopped.

JoAnn was re-diagnosed in December 2008.  She had been in remission for almost four years when breast cancer came back and with a vengeance.  For almost seven years Sissy battled Her2+ breast cancer, which is so aggressive it is usually found in Stage 4.  She fought, she battled, she went through a hellish radiation process, all the while keeping up her spirits and trying to spread hope.   She even had to handle an ordeal which sent her flying into an MRI machine, due to negligence, breaking her ankle and pinning her between the machine and a gurney for almost eighteen minutes, but she never quit.  In the end, I think her body just couldn't handle anymore.  Not her mind you, but her body.

Even when mama was sick,  JoAnn looked to my mom as her own as well, Sissy was there for me.  She would actually scold me for not opening up to her about mom, but I had a difficult time talking to someone battling cancer, about someone who had died from it.  It didn't matter though, she put aside her own fears and listened.  Along with sis Laura, we would cry, we would laugh, we had good times and we had rocky times, but no matter where we stood in our lives, our love for each other never waned.  JoAnn was a gift to this world.  Happy Birthday, Sissy. 

Until tomorrow...never give up. Fight the good fight.  Be grateful for each moment. 
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