Grief

While I Was Writing About Being Glad To Be Alive Yesterday, My Sister Was Dying. I Just Didn’t Know It.

She was only 52

My sister used this picture in social media, so I’m confident it’s one that she would have wanted me to use.

Yesterday I felt so much relief after my mammogram and sonogram came back clear. After getting my good news, I thought about calling my sister, a breast cancer survivor, but I didn’t.

Instead, I picked up some groceries from Target, including some wine and chocolate, and looked forward to a happy and celebratory evening with my husband. Then, just before 11 a.m., I started writing about my experience.

I didn’t know it, but while I was writing, my sister was making the two-hour drive to the home of her only child, Sydney. She lost control of her vehicle and was ejected during a crash. She was alert and able to talk to the trooper who found her, but died during her flight to the hospital. The emergency room doctor told us they’d opened her and tried to get her heart started, but she had internal and head injuries and they couldn’t save her. We don’t know much more than that, and probably never will.

She had just turned 52.

The police went to my dad’s house to inform him, and then he called me. I’d just posted my Medium piece about my mammogram and was still thinking about calling Tracey to talk about things with…