Amy Turner Tunick came into this life on the 13th and she left this life on the 13th. May 13th of 2006 to be exact. I only found out about her passing a few days ago, and as we are coming upon the one-year anniversary of her passing, I wanted to tell you about this woman who has been an inspiration to me.
Amy was a columnist for the South Florida Sun-Times, which I used to read often when I lived in Florida. I always looked forward to Amy's column, as it was positive and upbeat. Even her picture made me feel good because she had a radiance about her and a beautiful smile.
After she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Amy shared her life and death struggle with readers in her column "The Feel-Good Column". She wrote honestly about her experience, but always remained positive and hopeful, right up to the end, according to those who knew her.
"Cry, scream, feel sorry for yourself--but not for long. Basically, this is about hope. Never lose it," Amy wrote in her last column, two weeks before her passing.
Amy didn't believe in giving up. She lived longer than most people with this disease--30 months. I attribute that to her positive attitude and strong spiritual faith.
One of the things that Amy taught the readers of her column was to live in the present. She didn't know how much time she had and she didn't focus on that. Amy often wrote about gratitude and all the things that she had to be grateful for in spite of her devastating illness. It was often the small, simple things in life that Amy was most grateful for--things that we all take for granted.
Today I got an email from Amy's mother, Marilyn. She has compiled many of Amy's columns over the time of her illness and produced a book called, Feeling Good, Even Through Cancer. If you'd like to order it, you can contact Marilyn at [email protected]. The proceeds from the book will go to the UM Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and PanCan for pancreatic cancer research.
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