Weight wise it has been a good 2 weeks-down 5 more pounds. However life has been hard these past 2 weeks. My best friend of almost 20 years passed away on Tuesday April 25, 2006. I will not go into all the details of her death but it was what she wanted and she is now at peace and has no more pain. Her husband is a wreck. Even though he knew how sick she was, he was in denial that she would pass away and leave him alone. I will miss this dear friend of mine.
**To be continued got to go. For those of you who are following my blog and for all the newbie’s, I started this post in May shortly after my friends death. I couldn't continue it as I had started to cry and couldn't see beyond the tears. However now 2 months later the tears still come on really bad days but I feel I can go on and finish this post. I will try to catch up on what has been happening in my life during the past 2 months with other posts after this one.** However I wanted to continue this post as a tribute to my dear friend. It is lengthy but we had a long friendship, one I will cherish and keep in my heart always.
My dear friends name is Lois and she was the first person I meet in the More To Love club I started in 1987. During the next 3 years the club grow in size (no pun intended) and we all had some wonderful times; pool parties, bowling night, movies, miniature golf, festivals and we developed some real good friends. During this time Lois became my room mate for a few years until I moved into a mobile home in 1990. At that time we learned about NAAFA (National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance)and the MTL club merged with the South Florida Chapter of NAAFA. It was through this group that I meet the man I eventually married 5 years after we had met. Lois married before I did and I attended her lovely wedding. We continued to do many things together and with the NAAFA group and really enjoyed each others company. When I married my NAAFA FA (fat admirer) man others thought I shouldn't have and I soon lost friends but Lois stayed as my friend, for which I am truly grateful. I once asked her why when she and others were so against me marrying did she stay my friend and the others didn't. Her reply was because I am an "unconditional friend". She truly was as no matter what I did or said she was always there for me. In fact it was Lois and her husband who years later showed me in print and pictures why they were all set against me marrying the man I did. However that is another story in of itself.
After my marriage Lois and her husband helped clean my place for many years before she became so sick. She was a Nurse and I would run to her for advise about whether or not it was necessary for me to see a Doctor for all the different physical problems that cropped up. She gave me her shoulder to cry on, which I did many times. One time in particular was when I had a real bad and scary female physical problem. She encouraged me to keep seeking out new Doctors and to keep the appointments until finally one was found who knew what to do. It was so frustrating to have to go from one Doctor to another and another and take all the different test. There was 6 months of such terrible pain until I was finally diagnosed and treatment was provided.
Shortly after this time Lois started becoming ill with Kidney Disease. I remembered all she did for me and now it was my time to do for her. Because of my own ill health there wasn't much I could do except visits, cards, phone calls, an occasional dinner at my house and trying to raise money to help them pay for all the medical treatment she had received. My home was such a mess for about 6 months as everyone was giving me their used ink jet cartridges which I in turn sent to a fund raising company. By the way don't do this as we NEVER got the money they promised we would get.
Then came the Hurricanes of 2004 which practically destroyed their home. They lived in a 5th wheel trailer for a number of months until the insurance company took that away from them in 2005. God knows how she managed to climb up the rickety stairs to get into the unit, but she did. By then I was divorced so I invited Lois and Russell to live with me in my home while the inside of their home was rebuilt. None of us thought they would be here for 6 months but I didn't mind. Lois and Russell got to move back into their home and enjoy the Fall Holidays and shortly after their April 17th wedding anniversary Lois passed away.
She was the only friend I had for more than a few years. Our friendship lasted 18 wonderful years. I like to think that because of her loyal friendship I am a better person today. I continue to see Russell on a regular basis as I am trying to help him adjust to his new way of life without the love of his life in it. It will take time for us both to heal. He is progressing as he has asked me to help him go through her many things and putting some of them away. So I figured it was time for me to finish this tribute to my Dear Friend Lois Leissing-Gannon, my Best Friend and
my Nurse Angel. 
May you rest in peace!
