Amelia Worth
I don't really have the words to express how I'm feeling, but I feel like I should let something out on here about a person who touched my life in the smallest way: through a simple phone conversation.
About four months ago, I had the privilege of talking to a woman named Amelia Worth. She was a student at the University of Oregon, and she grew up in the Coos Bay Area. I had read about her in the newspaper. This woman was battling cancer, and couldn't make good blood after a bout with lieukemia. She needed a bone marrow transplant to survive... yet she was still working hours at a job, still taking distance classes (and regular classes when she could), and somehow maintained an incredible attitude... even when she was receiving platelets and going through all of the tests associated with something like cancer.
I gave her a call to ask her if I could just take a few pictures off of her LJ and use them for a story I was doing about the effort to save her life. We ended up talking about 20 minutes, but those 20 minutes...
During our conversation, she talked about how much the other day "just plain sucked." I think she actually used a more hillarious phrase than that, but she was struggling. She said she had almost gotten to the point of just giving up... and I have a feeling it got to that point an awful lot. Yet a day after going to the doctor and feeling so low, she was running around, working, going to class... literally living life to its fullest. Taking the generic phrase and making it her own, so to speak. Kind of ridiculous, really.
But inspiring. I mean it.
After she joked about which pictures I could use ("Use of the one of me with a harmonica! It's artsy-ish."), I said goodbye and shot a few pictures from my computer to throw into my story. I talked to her Mom that day, as well as a guy who was working to raise more than a hundred-thousand dollars to pay for her bone-marrow transplant. It was amazing to hear the stories of how she had touched so many lives just by living, smiling, and being.
The story aired, the days went on.
On Tuesday at 1:20pm, Amelia passed away.
When I heard the news, I didn't know what to say. I still really don't have many words other than how thankful I was to have known her, even for a brief phone call. Having lived in this town (Coos Bay) for a little over a year now, I've come to realize how precious she was to so many... even if she only knew them in passing or had never met them at all. That, to me, is what I am honored to have learned from her. The fact that she was so full of life... she resonated in the hearts of people she didn't even know. Gosh. What an amazing woman.
God bless you, Amelia. I hope to see you again, someday.
About four months ago, I had the privilege of talking to a woman named Amelia Worth. She was a student at the University of Oregon, and she grew up in the Coos Bay Area. I had read about her in the newspaper. This woman was battling cancer, and couldn't make good blood after a bout with lieukemia. She needed a bone marrow transplant to survive... yet she was still working hours at a job, still taking distance classes (and regular classes when she could), and somehow maintained an incredible attitude... even when she was receiving platelets and going through all of the tests associated with something like cancer.
I gave her a call to ask her if I could just take a few pictures off of her LJ and use them for a story I was doing about the effort to save her life. We ended up talking about 20 minutes, but those 20 minutes...
During our conversation, she talked about how much the other day "just plain sucked." I think she actually used a more hillarious phrase than that, but she was struggling. She said she had almost gotten to the point of just giving up... and I have a feeling it got to that point an awful lot. Yet a day after going to the doctor and feeling so low, she was running around, working, going to class... literally living life to its fullest. Taking the generic phrase and making it her own, so to speak. Kind of ridiculous, really.
But inspiring. I mean it.
After she joked about which pictures I could use ("Use of the one of me with a harmonica! It's artsy-ish."), I said goodbye and shot a few pictures from my computer to throw into my story. I talked to her Mom that day, as well as a guy who was working to raise more than a hundred-thousand dollars to pay for her bone-marrow transplant. It was amazing to hear the stories of how she had touched so many lives just by living, smiling, and being.
The story aired, the days went on.
On Tuesday at 1:20pm, Amelia passed away.
When I heard the news, I didn't know what to say. I still really don't have many words other than how thankful I was to have known her, even for a brief phone call. Having lived in this town (Coos Bay) for a little over a year now, I've come to realize how precious she was to so many... even if she only knew them in passing or had never met them at all. That, to me, is what I am honored to have learned from her. The fact that she was so full of life... she resonated in the hearts of people she didn't even know. Gosh. What an amazing woman.
God bless you, Amelia. I hope to see you again, someday.