Eulogy for My Friend Bobbye

Yesterday morning Bobbye, my friend and neighbor for more than a decade, died. Bobbye gave lung cancer (non-small cell) one heck of a fight for nearly 5 years. Diagnosed in March 2007, she used cutting-edge treatments to stretch the horizon again and again. So many times, we fielded calls with dire news. Yet, Bobbye came out the other side, beating the odds in innumerable ways.

I told her a few weeks ago, after she’d come home in hospice care, how bummed I was that the preemptive radiation the doctors did on her brain didn’t “work.” In other words, the cancer still spread to her noggin. She replied, “It got me 2 more years.”

After the holiday, I’d planned to post something funny. I promise I will post the funny stuff soon … just not today.

As I’ve done before when my friend Jody died in 2007, I wrote a little tribute I’d like to share. Bobbye, as context for regular readers, lived with these three funny golden retrievers.

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Lessons from Bobbye Lee Sperrazza
July 9, 1956 – November 27, 2011

Optimism doesn’t come all at once. Instead, it grows moment to moment.

Don’t over-invest in good news or bad news.

Advocates come in many forms, including the right husband.

Big, silly, fetch-obsessed dogs make life better.

Buying yourself more time is never a waste of time,
even if the outcome is the same.

Purchase a good winter coat and at least a few
cute-but-impractical pairs of shoes.

Say “thank you” even when you cannot talk.

Every year, every day, matters.

When you need to leave — be it on vacation or otherwise — it’s OK to go.