The violets need water Edie.............

Ok, maybe this blog is an out outlet for me. I try to keep it light, but it never works.....
Got some bad news today. My dear friend Edie who has been battling cancer (and winning for the most part), has now been diagnosed with brain cancer. She has 4 tumors in her brain; one the size of an egg. She will undergo brain surgery on Thursday to try to remove the biggest one.
As I heard her tell me to sit down, everything went kinda fuzzy. I heard her say the words " I have brain cancer". I remember her telling me to breathe. Which I did. She then gave me the details. I just looked at her face while the words came out of her, not quite grasping what I should be doing or saying. Edie is such an amazing human being. She has comforted us through her ordeals far more than we have comforted her. She told me it was going to be ok. I asked all the usual questions; what is the sucess rate of this surgery, recovery time etc. She said are you asking me if I'm terminal? Cuz, I have fucking brain cancer, of course I'm terminal. She said the surgery was just buying her time. She seemed at peace with the whole thing. Very optimistic. Unbelievably so, in fact. The spirit of Edie is like none I have seen in any other human being.
This woman was my rock through my divorce. She was the one who took my divorce papers to the court house when I could not make my feet move, She is the one, on my first Holiday alone,who had me to her house for Thanksgiving dinner with her family.
She is the one who finally got me to laugh again. We laughed alot back then.
So, Thursday at 3:30, she will have her brain operated on. They will do the best they can to remove the tumor. She joked that she needs to sneak her hairdresser into the operating room to make sure they shave her hair properly. She will survive the surgery. But like she told me, it is just buying her time. She says "tell anyone you want about me. The more people that know, the more prayers there will be for me."
I don't understand why it has to be happening to her. This woman who brings so much to others, should not be facing this. But she is. My heart is with her. She is such a fighter and I need her to keep on fighting. That's the thing about these things, we need the people to fight not only for themselves, but for us too.

jb