My dear friend, Marisol, passed away this past Monday, January 17.  She, too, was wrestling with metastatic cancer.  She was an incredible woman – strong, independent, direct, compassionate and a woman of deep faith.  She could see potential in everyone and expected us to live up to it.  She always inspired me to be a better mom to my kids, a better wife, a better person.

Marisol

I was fortunate to become friends with her several years back.  We would visit at her house over espresso and some type of dark chocolate or treat and share our lives and laugh, always laugh! When I was diagnosed with cancer last year, our visits became even more meaningful in a mutual cancer survivor kind of way.  We would coordinate our visits to the oncology office so that we could visit.  As we hung out in the chemo infusion suite in an armada of lovely green La-z-y Boy recliners, her effect on everyone in the room was electric.  She had such a positive energy about her.  She left smiles in her wake!

Marisol was such a source of strength for  me. When I would be feeling really bad from chemo, I only had to imagine what she would say to me in that moment. It would make me smile and buck up every time.

One time I ran across a quote that I thought summed her up perfectly:

“Friend, you are a divine mingle-mangle of guts and stardust.  So hang in there.”   -Frank Capra

Marisol, you are already greatly missed.