Peace

No one ever deserved more to live than my friend, Kimberly Joyce Rupp. But if she could not live, no one ever deserved more to rest in gentle peace.

With apologies to Shakespeare, I offer the following quote:


Come, gentle night, — come, loving black brow'd night,
Give me my Kaihea; and when she shall die,
Take her and cut her out in little stars,
And she will make the face of Heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night,
And pay no worship to the garish sun.
Juliet, Act III, scene ii

In memory of Kimberly Joyce Rupp, 33 precious years old, who lost her battle with cancer at midnight, November 12, 2008

Repost from my friend Kaihea's update website

As of tonight, there's no denying we are losing our Kaihea.

Over the past weeks it has become increasingly clear that no plausible medical options remain, and that the damage her body has sustained is simply irreversible. We have shifted from trying to fight the cancer to trying to reduce her suffering, and her family and I have worked hard to make sure Kaihea's wishes regarding resuscitation, etc. were clearly understood and documented before she lost the ability to communicate.

Over the past 48 hours she has become almost completely unresponsive to any outside contact.

She does not seem to be in any pain, and some excellent doctors and nurses are working hard to make sure any pain or discomfort is avoided. Either a family member or myself (usually quite a few of us) is with her at all times and will be through the end. We expect that soon she will slip away painlessly. Her long and difficult battle is nearly over, and I would not say she's losing the fight; rather, we've long felt that every day, week, month we've managed to keep her around is its own victory, and well worth celebrating.

I know you are all aching to do something for her. If you pray, now is the time to pray not for a miracle but for a peaceful and painless end. The time for medicine has passed, and also the time for miracles. You have all done so much for her, shown her so much support and love throughout this ordeal; now is the time when we must let her go, and wish her a gentle and safe passage to whatever lies beyond.
------written by her loyal and courageous boyfriend and soulmate, Manko Eponymous

Halloween!

Here's a couple of Halloween pictures from VEGAS!! It was such a blast!

My friends

What my friends teach me all the time:

Forgiveness is a gift.

Reaching out to someone means a lot.

Texting is a form of showing love.

Friends and family are the most important things in life.

I am so grateful for my friends. I love you all.

My Friend Kaihea

Justin and I are in Washington, D.C. visiting my friend Kaihea, who is in the hospital battling cancer.

The good news is, she's doing a lot better than I thought she was. YAAY!!

The bad news is, she's fighting a lot of things she shouldn't have to be, like MRSA, pneumonia, and side effects from chemo, mostly nausea.

It is sooooo good to see her and talk with her.

I have faith in God and his healing powers, and I know that God will heal her in his own time. I do not understand why she must suffer first, but I know He will heal her.

May Love Hold Her.

Some pics

Here's some recent pics.

Also, for anyone who isn't on Facebook, I HIGHLY recommend joining. It's the easiest way I've discovered to keep up with friends. I post photos there all the time because it's the easiest way to share them, and my friends and I can all keep track of each other much easier.

Hard lessons to learn

First off, because I have so many wonderful friends who care (and I mean that in the most sincere sense possible), my friend is out of the ICU and doing marginally better. Justin and I fly to Washington, D.C. to see her next week, and I'm practically jumping out of my skin because I want to be there NOW. I'll try to contain myself.

I've learned some pretty tough lessons this week. I may or may not have cost myself a couple of friendships, hopefully not but if I did it was my own fault.

I'm so glad to be reminded that I'm a human being, a work in progress, and thank goodness for divine forgiveness. At least He forgives me, even if my (also human) friends can't.

I guess the day I stop learning is the day I die.