My buddy, Denise Short…

My good friend, Denise Short, passed away Saturday morning from cancer that she had been fighting for about 7 years.  But she was everyone’s friend though too.  Everyone loved Denise.

I really don’t know what to write about her except that she really was a great person.  And I’m going to miss her.

I saw her last at coffee at Brett’s coffee shop, 2 weeks ago.  Where we always go for coffee after LOST swimming.  And on this Saturday her good friend, Barb, came to coffee without her and told us she had just passed away.  She had actually passed away about an hour earlier, at 8:00 am, when we were just getting the water for our LOST swim.  Kind of an odd coincidence, I suppose.

I don’t want to make this about her and LOST swimming, because although she was one of the very original members of LOST, she was so much more than that.  To me and to everyone.

Barb brought up the point that she had survived much longer than the doctors thought she would, but that our group are all so healthy that it wasn’t surprising.  The funny thing about our whole athletic group is that we probably are much healthier than your average person, but even within that group she stood out.  She really was a great athlete… but that isn’t what made her special… she was simply one of the most perpetually happy and positive people I have ever met.  I think that is more likely what kept her going longer than most people could have.  I try and surround myself with positive, fun, up people… and nobody was more positive, fun or up than her.

So when she came down for LOST coffee 2 weeks ago, she was completely bed ridden and obviously not doing well.  But Barb and some other friends helped bring her down in her wheelchair.  Even though she only lived about a block from “Bean There” it was still a

major ordeal to get her there.  She had put on all kinds of weight from the medications she had been on and was not looking good and barely recognizable.  As soon as I saw her I walked over and gave her a big hug and a kiss and promptly put my foot in my mouth… I said “oh, Hi Denise, how are you?!”  She’s laying there looking awful and I asked such a dumb question… and what did she say in her same squeaky, perky little voice?  “I’m good… how are you?  How was LOST swimming this morning?  I heard the water was nice.  How many people were out?”  It was still Denise.  And typical Denise, she had no interest talking about herself and was always more interested in all the other fun things everyone else was doing.

She was really a nice, warm and exceptionally fun person to be around.  I am really glad I had her as a friend.  But I’m also really sad that I won’t see her anymore.

Here are some pictures that I have of her that I thought I’d share.  At least those pictures and memories make me smile a bit when I think about her.

Love ya, Denise.

Rob