In memory of a good friend

Today, my good friend, Nancy Brusletten, died. She died with friends and family surrounding her with love, after a year and a half battle with lung cancer.

We worked together as therapists and there were a few times where I had the privilege of doing co-therapy with her. What I realized during those times was how gifted she was. As I worked with her the things that came to the surface were that she was very skilled, and she cared about the people she involved herself with. You realized when you worked with her or were her clients that you mattered deeply to her.

The months have passed by and we all watched her succumb to the disease that ended her life here. While her body faltered, her soul never did. As the physical started to deteriorate, her spirit glowed even brighter. She was an amazing person with amazing resolve. She will be missed by those who love her.

As the days went on and she got sicker, it was very hard to say she was "dying". It was almost as if those words were they uttered, would take away the hope that something else would happen. I watched it in the journal that was kept about her journey. I was even afraid to say it. It was Nancy who gave the person who was journaling, permission to say that she was dying.

She has a wonderful husband and three precious children that will have to go on without her physical presence, but the gift of her life that she gave so freely and so unselfishly will live on forever.

I have included the latest journal article that was submitted to CaringBridge. You can read the journal that was kept if you are interested. The link is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/nancybrusletten . It is a powerful testament of unquestioning submission to God's love and faithfulness and cherishing God even in difficult times. It is also a testament to the fact that all that is important in this life is the love that we share. Things will not satisfy. To see the sacrifices of those around Nancy on her behalf and for her were awe inspiring to say the least. Politics, religion, and the other things that consume our lives are irrelevant. Totally irrelevant!

And now, the latest journal article.

Our prayers for peace have been answered with Nancy passing on to God early this morning. Ron, her mother and her good friend Bobbie were with her. We are all so saddened but so thankful she can be at rest and that her boys now know she will be an Angel for them along their journeys in life. It has been a long journey for Nancy that we all wish could have had a different ending. She fought so very hard to do everything she could to remain here on earth with all of us. She also showed us how strong her faith was and how she was not at all afraid to die and to go to God. She never once got angry or questioned his will. Her love for him will continue to show through all of us she has touched for so long and even through people she just met briefly because this is what Nancy did …she always made an impact and left a special mark along the way of her path. Ron and her boys will continue to love her even though she is gone and Ron will see to it her boys are safe and happy. He has taken such good care of her and shown how he loves her so very much. His boys will be so proud of him as they get older and understand just what he has done for Nancy. I will update more often these next few days with all the arrangements but for now the family would prefer no calls unless it is the returning of a call they made. Right now they need to take care of the boys. Thank you for all the help and support and we will need to continue to support Ron and the boys and pray for them through this very sad time. She is so missed already.
God bless all of you.
Denise

Rich Mullins made a great statement about the meaning of death in our lives.

It is the living that mourn at a funeral-not the dead. We mourn because the lives of the dead have made ours more lively, and since we are (or have been) so knit together, the loss or another's strand will eventually cause our own unraveling. Fellowship is the mingling of threads that make up a fabric, and only in a fabric do we have some kind of meaningfulness. Peace is not the opposite of conflict, it is the opposite of chaos.

Thank you Nancy. You have taught me much by your life and death. I will miss you, and I believe you are now finally at peace.