don kerr

6 years ago · 2 min. reading time · ~10 ·

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"This life has truly been a win." Catherine's last post.

"This life has truly been a win." Catherine's last post.

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Very early on the morning of July 29, 2017 my friend Catherine wrote her last post. Later that day she was gone. Taken so goddamned early.

Kate and I met Catherine and her incredible husband Szolt early in our joint travels through the raging waters of breast cancer. She struck us immediately as a woman of amazing grace, spunk, humour, and wisdom beyond her years. She was, in reality, still a girl in her outlook and demeanour and we immediately fell smitten with her.

During the ensuing years she remained a source of inspiration, comfort and challenge.

Catherine didn’t fight cancer. Catherine lived her cancer and even when it metastasized she carried on living and sharing and loving and caring and celebrating what would turn out to be a cruelly short life.

Her enormous community of friends are admittedly gutted with the news of her death.

At the same time we celebrate the joy she brought to us with her living and writing.

You were loved Catherine. You will be loved always.

This is her last post:

Catherine Brunelle

Last Post - 144 months and one week

Saturday, July 29, 2017

I am writing this to thank all of you. Thank you so much for following along this journey. I’ve been lucky, not many diagnosed with breast cancer and reoccurrence live as long as I did. Some only get months. For me, it was years.

It was trips to Europe. It was a writing career. It was becoming a podcaster. It was buying a car. It was watching my husband thrive in his work. It was paddling the waters early morning in Balaton. It was cottaging with my family, and playing games like Telestration. It was meeting all your babies! It was working at the library and seeing how they support so many. It was landing a dream job with Amnesty International, which justified how following your joys can actually lead to concrete ‘grown up’ good things. It was family reunions and cousins and aunts and uncles. It was buying a couch! It was facing fears. It was Claire Never Ending.

It was time with my Dad (wow we are so alike). It was time with my Mom (and shows we watched, the comfort we shared, the support you gave). It was time with Daniel (the car rides!). It was time with JP (the kindness and love). It was time with Catherine (the tea we drank!). It was my fellow writers, Ulrike, James and Kate (and how we believe in each other). It was meeting Kevin. It was time with my long-time friends, seeing how they’ve grown, and Christmas’ Eve Eve.

It was Zsolt. It has always been Zsolt. Everything, every second, instant, thought, laugh, cry, comfort. The way he smiles when he walks into the room. How his face changes when he thinks. His wonderful height, and how I can cuddle up into his arms. How much we have in common. How much we love each other. How you are my very very very best friend.

And it was all of you too, who wrote to me in the comment sections or read along quietly. You made the hard days easier, and my random thought experiments acceptable. It was fun to write with you. I’m grateful to know you were all out there, and in some ways my words left an impact. That was your gift to me.

Thank you.

I’ve been lucky. I got to have so much. I got to have you.

This life has truly been a win.

https://catherinebrunelle.com/
"
#Catherine #July #Zsolt #Kate #Szolt
Comments

don kerr

6 years ago #31

#32
thank you

David B. Grinberg

6 years ago #30

What a moving post, Don. I'm very sorry for the loss of your friend, who sounds like she was a wonderful and courageous person who looked on the bright side. One thing about death is that is should make us all appreciate life a bit more and the importance of being kind and courteous to others -- as we don't always know what they may be experiencing in private.

don kerr

6 years ago #29

#28
Jan \ud83d\udc1d Barbosa Too too true.

don kerr

6 years ago #28

#29
so well said

🐝 Fatima G. Williams

6 years ago #27

Beautiful Beautiful tribute. I love her last post and I can see how infectious her writing was, how loving and inspiring she is. Even though she smiles down from heaven she lives on in our hearts. God bless her family and friends. She will be loved.

Jan 🐝 Barbosa

6 years ago #26

Wow... Too many stories of lives cut short this week on beBEE.... Stories of courage and determination against a bigger than life foe... nevertheless sad in the end... :(

don kerr

6 years ago #25

#23
Many thanks.

don kerr

6 years ago #24

#20
As always, many thanks Gert Scholtz

don kerr

6 years ago #23

#21
Pedro \ud83d\udc1d Casanova Appreciate your sentiments sir.

don kerr

6 years ago #22

#22
Phil Friedman Thank you my good friend.

Virag🐝 G.

6 years ago #21

I am so sorry for your loss. :-(

Phil Friedman

6 years ago #20

That some people can be so brave and uncomplaining makes the heartache for those left behind even greater. I am so sorry for your and Kate's loss and for the loss suffered by Zsolt and the rest of Catherine's family.

Pedro 🐝 Casanova

6 years ago #19

Never met her....but I feel love for her...great person...Condolences

Gert Scholtz

6 years ago #18

Don \ud83d\udc1d Kerr Loss of a young life is tragic and sad. My sincere condolences to you and your wife Kate.

don kerr

6 years ago #17

#18
Lisa Vanderburg Appreciate your readership and comments Lisa. Thank you.

Lisa Vanderburg

6 years ago #16

Such love, such a commendable buzz Don \ud83d\udc1d Kerr to celebrate such nobility...and frailty in a life such as Catherine's. I am so humbled to read this. We all need the reminder of the sanctity of life and death.

don kerr

6 years ago #15

#14
Pascal Derrien Appreciate your comment Pascal.

don kerr

6 years ago #14

#15
Ian Weinberg Very well put Ian.

Ian Weinberg

6 years ago #13

We can theorize it, philosophize it, rationalize it, do anything to numb it down. But death, especially the death of a young soul is a loss. And so we grieve, which is our lot. No point in making sense out of it at this time. We celebrate their lives, our lives, all lives and carry on. Thanks for the sharing and the inspiring reminder Don \ud83d\udc1d Kerr

Pascal Derrien

6 years ago #12

it seems she was one of the good ones but that's the type of people you attract Don :-), yet still unfair to see great humans embarking on another journey when the one they were one is brought abruptly to completion. So long Madame.

Milos Djukic

6 years ago #11

#9
An article never dies. Written words are eternal.

Milos Djukic

6 years ago #10

#8
Kudos CityVP \ud83d\udc1d Manjit!

don kerr

6 years ago #9

#5
Milos Djukic Many thanks my friend.

don kerr

6 years ago #8

#6
Too, too right.

don kerr

6 years ago #7

#8
CityVP \ud83d\udc1d Manjit I am so very pleased that you have explored Catherine's writing. This is how she will live on. Many thanks friend.

CityVP Manjit

6 years ago #6

Where she is an absolute champion is her 17th July post "The Truth of It", here Catherine writes "But the only parts of that that are true rests with the incontinence and the weakness when it comes to the stairs. And then there is my husband who I worry about all the time. Worry about his work, but also his emotional state of being, and how it is such a struggle to do this for us both…..though downstairs in bed or upstairs in zero energy but pushing any how land he is always fun to be with. No energy for proofing. i am sure it is getting worse and worse. Oh well, at least words hit the page." This brings home the difficulty Catherine had to put words to a page and at the same time reveals her concerns for others, in the paragraph above her husband. Anyone who creates a blog called "Bumpyboobs" shows me the spirit of their being and that much I can realize will be hugely missed. Her blog "The Truth of It" is tragic, it is sad but it is also heroic in the best sense of the word - if I am really to know who Catherine was, without ever having met or spoken to her" her 17th July reveals the kind of special human beings that dotted around the landscape, that others like John Kerr reveal to us at the moment we all catch a moment to express our condolences and to spare a moment to soothe the sorrows of those closest to Catherine, her loved ones. The last line of "The Truth of It" is the most profound and most timeless of her words Catherine wrote "PS I am getting new glasses and that is exciting." They are words that should give all of us new vision as she looked forward to her new glasses - that simplicity and joy just a paragraph joined from the pit of suffering and consideration for others, speaks volumes about what a life she was. R.I.P. Catherine and condolences of the highest order for all those that shared this very special ladies life and became better for it for doing so.

CityVP Manjit

6 years ago #5

Where she is an absolute champion is her 17th July post "The Truth of It", here Catherine writes "But the only parts of that that are true rests with the incontinence and the weakness when it comes to the stairs. And then there is my husband who I worry about all the time. Worry about his work, but also his emotional state of being, and how it is such a struggle to do this for us both…..though downstairs in bed or upstairs in zero energy but pushing any how land he is always fun to be with. No energy for proofing. i am sure it is getting worse and worse. Oh well, at least words hit the page." This brings home the difficulty Catherine had to put words to a page and at the same time reveals her concerns for others, in the paragraph above her husband. Anyone who creates a blog called "Bumpyboobs" shows me the spirit of their being and that much I can realize will be hugely missed. Her blog "The Truth of It" is tragic, it is sad but it is also heroic in the best sense of the word - if I am really to know who Catherine was, without ever having met or spoken to her" her 17th July reveals the kind of special human beings that dotted around the landscape, that others like John Kerr reveal to us at the moment we all catch a moment to express our condolences and to spare a moment to soothe the sorrows of those closest to Catherine, her loved ones. The last line of "The Truth of It" is the most profound and most timeless of her words Catherine wrote "PS I am getting new glasses and that is exciting." They are words that should give all of us new vision as she looked forward to her new glasses - that simplicity and joy just a paragraph joined from the pit of suffering and consideration for others, speaks volumes about what a life she was. R.I.P. Catherine and condolences of teh highest order for all those that shared this very special ladies life and became better for it for doing so.

Milos Djukic

6 years ago #4

A great person deserves no less! Thanks Don \ud83d\udc1d Kerr.

don kerr

6 years ago #3

#3
Lupita Reyes Thank you for reading Catherine's story. Her spirit is her legacy and knowing that her words were still alive would mean so much to her.

don kerr

6 years ago #2

#1
Javier \ud83d\udc1d beBee She was a true gem.

Javier Cámara-Rica 🐝🇪🇸

6 years ago #1

A very strong human. Touching. This is a good reminder for living and enjoying. Thanks for sharing this with us Don \ud83d\udc1d Kerr

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