Pages

17 April 2007

Bad Day

When I arrived at work this morning, I was greeted with the terrible news that my friend and co-worker, Tiffanie Lewis, had suffered a brain aneurysm in the middle of the night. She is only 23 years old. She suffered severe brain damage and by the middle of the day, had suffered complete brain death. Tiffanie is a beautiful and intelligent girl who was a dedicated Case Manager, working on her Masters Degree and planning to buy a house with her boyfriend and was dreaming of having a baby, but this is only a tiny glimpse of her. It was a stressful and hectic day at the shelter without this tragedy, so it's been pretty overwhelming for me. I was blessed to be able to go to the hospital early this afternoon and hold her hand and tell her good-bye, but it was and is still very hard for me to accept this. We had been laughing together on Monday night before she left for the day. Today she was so warm and peaceful that I kept waiting for her to squeeze my hand back or open her eyes and laugh. I kept hearing her laugh in my head over and over throughout the day. As I left the hospital with two co-workers, I broke down for the first time and was immediately supported by two sets of loving arms. Luckily, I am surrounded by remarkably loving and supportive people in my workplace. We pulled together and got through this day. Last I heard, her family was waiting for her father to fly in from Florida before her organs are harvested and her life support is turned off. I was able, for the most part, to focus on my work today and keep busy and distracted, but as soon as things slowed down and I left work for the day, I really broke down. I fear that tomorrow will be worse. The world has lost a shining star.

Please keep Tiffanie's family in your prayers!

5 comments:

Jen Wagner said...

I don't know you, but I do know Tiffanie. I used to work at PREHAB, when it was called such. My husband, Karl worked at Autumn House. Yesterday was very difficult for me as well, as I'm sure today will be. I hope to meet you next week at the services. Thank you for your blog. ~Jen Wagner

Jen Wagner said...

OK, so now that I have been looking at your blog more closely, I DO KNOW YOU. How are you, Leah?

Leah said...

Jen! It's good to hear from you, thank you for your comments. I'll see you at the services, but I'm sad that we're all getting together under these circumstances. Tell Karl and the girls hello for me.

SuperP. said...

Nessa.. I feel for your loss, more than that simple, cliche phrase can explain.

I can't imagine what her family and friends must be going through. All that hard work, all her plans.. all those she touched.. I'll never completely understand why the good die young.

Leah said...

Thank you Penny. I really appreciate it.

Post a Comment