Today I happened to stumble across an article in CNN about a blogger name Eva Dien Brine Markvoort who created a blog called 65 Red Roses. This was about her struggle with cystic fibrosis, hence the name 65 roses because many children have difficulty pronouncing cystic fibrosis. She inserted red into her blog name because it was her favorite color. She died recently and I as I began to scroll down her blog, my eyes watered, my throat clenched. How could such a beautiful young woman being taken away at her prime? I am struggling as I type to hold back the tears. She touched so many people on many levels all over the world! What a brave soul, how I admire her and it once again reminds me of my many blessings. I have been sick on and off throughout my life but nothing terminal or anything that truly held me back from living. Her parents (what strength they have!) are maintaining her blog and when she had passed away, they simply wrote
Eva Dien Brine Markvoort … what a life! She lived passionately, with purpose, and died on Saturday, March 27. She left a legacy of love and made a difference in the lives of thousands of people both in her personal life and in her online community. Eva’s life, almost 26 years long, was defined by her challenges related to cystic fibrosis. She knew how to live for the moment and her magnetic personality drew people in at every turn. Eva took nothing for granted and she had no time for complainers. Her life was full of vibrant moments and she appreciated all the beautiful aspects of her surroundings, constantly adjusting to the limitations presented by her health. Eva filled every room she entered, she engaged herself in the present and she learned to turn the most challenging situations into positive experiences. She was a force! Eva has enriched the lives of her parents, Janet Brine and Bill Markvoort, her siblings Annie and Hunter, her loving extended family of aunts, uncles and cousins, and her dearest core ‘team’. Eva's family expresses their gratitude for the tremendous support provided by friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, the medical team, and Eva's online community.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Eva’s memory to the Vancouver Cystic Fibrosis Foundation will be gratefully accepted at www.cfvancouver.ca . All who read this are also encouraged to register as an organ donor at www.transplant.bc.ca .
Can you even begin to imagine the grief felt by so many but none more so than her family! Two days before she passed away, with her sister's help she wrote this poem;
i'm at
that point now i'm done with the poetics asking for help my sister is helping me write actually helping me write the medications have been piling up they are taking their toll i am supersaturated with medications i've been medically missing in action for two days the docs started taking me off some of them to see how i would manage and i am not managing not managing at all i'm drowning in the medications i can't breathe every hour once an hour i can't breathe something has to changeI just want to say to Eva's parents/family/friends how much Eva's blog has touched me. The world at large has lost someone who mattered.
1 comment:
We can all learn from the example of Eva. What a tragedy that she died at age twenty-five. We can all draw a lesson from her life that complaining is useless and doesn't change things in a positive way. After Boyd Baker died, Ellen found a note in his drawer headed, Things I Hate. There was only one line under it; People who complain. Truly life is too short to be spent dwelling on things that make us unhappy. How about accepting the things we cannot change? Love you, Baba
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