It’s been more than 3 3/4 years since Leslie died, and close to 5 years since she was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a still-as-yet incurable form or brain cancer. I tell people how ironic her death was, given that her career involved health promotion and disease prevention and she lived what she taught through diet, exercise, and other habits that promoted good physical and mental well being. The lesson, I guess, is that we take control of the things we can and hope for the best with the things we can’t. I believe strongly that she lived life to the fullest and that her habits enabled her to do so. She is still a role model for me in that regard.
I have several objectives for starting this site. First, of course, is to pay tribute to Leslie and preserve her memory. I can never make people who did not know her aware of how special she was, but I hope that I can use this site to continue to celebrate how special she was with all those who knew and loved her. I also hope to use this site to continue to allow my feelings toward her and toward the forces that shortened her life to evolve. Many people I know say that everything happens for a reason. I do not believe that, but I do think we can create something meaningful out of tragedy. From grief we can find wisdom and compassion. Since Leslie died I have grown less patient with what I see as the nonsense of life, but I also feel more connected to people that I don’t know and with whom I otherwise would never think I had anything in common, knowing that that there is some kind of spiritual bond that connects all humans. Just as I am less patient with nonsense, I have found much greater meaning in many things that I used to take for granted in life.
Finally, if I get a little better at building this web site, I would like to use it to connect to charities that either meant something to Leslie or have come to mean something to me through what Leslie and I went through together. Among these are The American Cancer Society, The National Brain Tumor Society, World Bicycle Relief, and Doctors Without Borders. I’m not sure whether I’ve set this up yet to allow others to post comments or add pictures, but that is another goal of mine, so as the weeks pass I will be adding functionality to this site. Please stay tuned.