Last month, my friend Teri died after a courageous six month battle with a very aggressive breast cancer. She was forty-one.
I have struggled to write this post ever since.
At the Celebration Of Her Life, I joined her husband Caleb, her family, her doctor, and countless friends to honor and remember Teri, to comfort each other, to cry, to laugh, and to speak over and over again of her completely contagious smile.
Teri was one of those rare people that no one has anything bad to say about. She was strong and confident. She was creative and smart and constantly involved in projects that showed just how creative and smart she was. She was the one from our early twenties on, that always had a good job, doing something she loved, that was cool and also paid the bills. She was a rocking drummer, a loving wife, an accomplished television producer, a videographer, and as of late 2010, she had achieved her dream of becoming a lawyer, which she bravely worked at until her death in June.
Sadly, I was not an active part of Teri’s life during the last several years. The Northampton music scene of the 90s was where we spent most of our time together. When my band disbanded, I gravitated toward my quieter interests of writing and riding. I regret now not keeping in good touch, but you never think that one day it will be too late to reconnect.
I have her picture hanging where I see it often and she reminds me to not take my days for granted, to learn from the way she lived her life, to work hard for the things I want, to enjoy them when I get them, to smile, to rock, to make other people smile, to be brave.
It is humbling to see some one so young and so talented lose their life. It really makes you stop and think about your own life, and what you have to leave behind when you go.
As I work my way along “the write road”… I will think of Teri often. She will inspire me to put pen to paper and to work as hard as I can to create something with my time here in this life, that will last – always.
Thank you, Teri. We miss you.
(Theresa Anne Morris June 6, 1970 – June 9, 2011)
