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mdlbearKaren Colleen Savitzky, better known as Mama Colleen, Grandma Colleen, Mama Con, The FlowerCat, and Colleen Elizabeth de Cassis, passed away at 4:30 am this morning. She never regained consciousness after an epic surgery that we both knew going in was risky as hell. (See Episode 9 for the details.) Doctor Rangel, who pulled off a minor miracle two years ago when Colleen was dying of a raging infection, was on duty and called me about 10:30 last night to say that she was fading. Her blood pressure was still dropping, even after being maxed out on medication and fluids. I drove up with N to spend the rest of the night in her room in the ICU.
Colleen was the toughest woman I ever met; after beating the odds two years ago and living a good and mostly happy life for a year and a half more than anyone expected, we all kind of figured she'd win this fight too. I'm deeply sorry to have to tell you that we were wrong.
It was a good thing she never got the transfer to UW -- at Whidbey General she was surrounded and cared for by people who'd known her and loved her for years. We joked with the people at the reception desk about needing a frequent flyer card, and everyone knew her as the woman with purple hair.
I cut off the braid with the last of her purple hair, gave her a final kiss, and said goodbye. When we got home I sang "Eyes Like the Morning".
...
I'll post more later -- Colleen was too great a force of nature to be summed up in a single post. Or a hundred. No need to send flowers; the FlowerCat doesn't need them. Hug somebody close to you and tell them you love them, because you never know whether you'll get another chance.
She was amazing
Date: 2021-07-12 08:04 pm (UTC)Many hugs.
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Date: 2021-07-12 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2021-07-12 08:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-12 09:27 pm (UTC)Love,
Alan and Alta
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Date: 2021-07-12 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-12 09:49 pm (UTC)I'm sorry to have never gotten to know her.
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Date: 2021-07-12 10:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-12 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-12 10:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-12 10:33 pm (UTC)Yes, that. I wonder if I can find her SMOF nametag.
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Date: 2021-07-12 10:39 pm (UTC)I Never Met Her
Date: 2021-07-12 10:50 pm (UTC)Goodbye, Colleen
Date: 2021-07-13 12:23 am (UTC)She let us be weird, and encouraged our engagement with various hobbies and friends.
Rest in power, Colleen
“Cattle die, kinsmen die,
you yourself must also die,
but he who wins word fame lives forever”
― Hávamál
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Date: 2021-07-13 12:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-13 01:05 am (UTC)And I forgot to say - her memory is, in fact, a blessing to all who knew her.
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Date: 2021-07-13 01:27 am (UTC)*Hugs* to the household up there and to all of us.
May memories of her be a blessing to all of us.
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Date: 2021-07-13 02:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-13 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-13 03:19 am (UTC)May her memory be a blessing.
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Date: 2021-07-13 03:21 am (UTC)You, Riley, and Emmy have my sympathy.
If there's anything I can do for you from here, please let me know!
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Date: 2021-07-13 03:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-13 04:17 am (UTC)-- Andy
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Date: 2021-07-13 07:00 am (UTC)