I couldn't think of a good title for the particular post.

Sarah was my best friend in high school. Her family is my family. Her parents have always treated me like one of their own. Sarah's brothers are like the cool older brothers I never had, except Paul, who was like the annoying younger brother I thank God I never had. While we were at AACC, Sarah's mom was diagnosed with cancer. She underwent treatment, and last I heard, she was fine. I think the chemo wore her down and she wasn't able to work anymore, but the cancer was beaten back, and life went on.

So when I called Sarah today to see if she wanted to hop on Gaia's MMO, for some beta-testing, I was utterly destroyed when she told me that her mom is dying. Apparently the medication had stopped working, and it had been making her feel so miserable that she quit taking it altogether. The doctors think she has about three months to live. Right now she's in a rehab center trying to build up the muscles in her legs and get her strong enough to walk again. When she gets out she's going to move in with one of Sarah's older sisters, who has the time and ability to take care of her.

Even though I haven't really been able to see her very much since I moved out to St. Louis, I am just devastated. Linda has been my second mom for years, she's taken care of me, helped me when I needed it, and looked out for me like one of her own. I just can't believe in few short months she's going to be gone.

I can't even imagine how the family is taking in. From what Sarah said, Paul is an absolute wreck. He's the youngest kid and the only one still living at home (plus he was always a little sensitive). Ethan and Kricket are probably handling the news well considering. Both of those guys are laid-back and can deal with anything by cracking jokes. I imagine they'll probably feel in on the inside, but will want everyone to cheer up on the outside. Donna and Krista I don't know well enough to make any kind of judgements, and I can't even begin to imagine how David must be doing. The man is about to loose his wife, and he doesn't have the time to help take care of her because his job is slowly beating him to death with a brick.

The whole situation is just depressing. I don't know how Sarah got through our phone call without crying, because god knows I didn't. Being young and not having a close relation with Death leaves me totally bewildered as to what to do. I don't know what to say to try to convey my sorrow, I certainly don't know how I could try and console the family when I feel like I need consoling myself. And all I can think is how much more it's going to hurt when she's gone.

I hope that her last few months are peaceful and surrounded by family. And for my own bit of selfishness, I hope she doesn't die around Thanksgiving, Christmas, or my brother's bootcamp graduation, since I'd really like to fly out to MD to pay my last respects when it happens.

My prayers are with Sarah's family.