I met Em almost a year and a half ago when I joined my bible study group. She accepted me immediately into the group and always had a word of encouragement (when she was ribbing me for one thing or another...which was still encouragement in her way) that made me feel welcome. I had been in the group for a month or so before I found out about Em's brain tumor. I was shocked! She never mentioned it, never put herself on our prayer list. She was missing one week and one of the other girls in the group added her to the prayer list since she was at the Cleveland Clinic having her regular MRI to check on the tumor. I later found out she discovered the tumor in February that year (2010) after having some seizures. Our friendship grew because her youngest kiddo is just a month older than Colin. I started really looking up to Emilie as a Mom not only because she'd been there before, but because she was honest and real about life with kids.
I remember in May this year we celebrated Emilie being seizure free for a year...then, things started going downhill. The very next week, Emilie had what she called "brain misfires." Still never put herself on the prayer list--just wanted to make us aware of why her speech was "off." Her docs in Cleveland tried to adjust her meds to stop the seizures, and she went back to Cleveland for more tests. Late in the summer/early fall, she started a drug trial after learning her tumor had advanced to a level 4 (and has always been inoperable because of the location). She stayed hopeful that the trial would help. After a month on the trial, she was released because the tumor continued to grow. After that, she wouldn't say much about future plans on treatment...I think she knew. Actually, we went to Chuck E. Cheese's on Thursday of last week with her 2 boys and Colin and she made a passing remark that if she only had one month left to live, she sure didn't want to be in Cleveland with docs...she'd much rather be living her life with her family. I should've thought about it then (because she'd been off the trial for 3 weeks or so) but figured she was just throwing random numbers out.
That's the beautiful thing about Emilie. She didn't really talk about the tumor much. She didn't want it to define who she was. She didn't want it to affect her kids and her family life. She wanted as much "normal" as she could cram in...and she loved every minute of it. I have never in my life seen someone with as much faith in God or love for Jesus. I will miss my friend, but I'm not sad for Emilie--I know exactly where she is, and honestly can't wait to see the glorious crown she has been awarded in heaven! But, I'm heartbroken for her family. She leaves behind an amazing husband and three itty bitties (that's what she called the kiddos). Ella is 6, Miller is 4, and Brooks is 2. There is not one single person who has come in contact with Emilie (and I'm talking her entire life span here) whom she has left unaffected. EVERYONE loves Emilie. Everyone will remember Emilie. And, I think like me, everyone thought of her as their dearest friend.
I will miss her beautiful words of advice or just her outlook on the way the world worked. When people would blame God for bad or difficult things in their life, she'd say, "How would we tell God thank you for the sun, unless we have a little rain every now and then?" She appreciated and loved every single moment with her family and in her life. One of my favorite things that Emilie posted on Facebook recently was "We should all be so in love with each day." What a beautiful way to live your life and what a legacy to leave! I'm personally striving to live my life more like Emilie--I'm finding things to love about every single day and even relishing the hard parts!
Em, you will never be forgotten and will always be in my heart!
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