Early in January LYNN FERREIRA did some very important shopping - to buy sapphire earrings for her daughters so they’d have something blue when they married.
Their weddings are far in the future - Courtney is nine and Cassidy seven - but Lynn (37) knew she wouldn’t be around. Her cancer was terminal and doctors had told her to prepare for the end.
Soon afterwards she became bedridden. She was in pain but refused to let go; she wanted to be around for husband Andre’s birthday. On 12 March Andre turned 42 and Lynn was at his side during the family celebration. Three days later she died.
Hundreds of people had followed the cancer battle of the assistant publisher at Media24 through her blog on the health24 website. Upbeat, funny and deeply moving, it was both a joy to read and heartbreaking.
Lynn at first refused to believe the two tumours found in her brain - she called them T1 and T2 - would get the better of her. Then she developed cancerous lesions on her chest and liver.
Colleagues, friends and strangers alike were devastated when she announced there was no hope of recovery. “Naturally we’re sad and a little taken aback that the prognosis is so dire,” she wrote in her last update.
But typically she chose to be positive. “Not many people get the chance I’ve had this last year to really take stock and start doing things differently. In fact I’ve probably had one of the best years of my life.
“Being able to reconnect with so many people, refocus my priorities, spend so much time with the girls, go to Bible study, really feel the love from so many and just do things differently. The way I should have been doing things.”
She carefully planned her memorial service, her sister Penny says. “She said nobody was allowed to wear black and she chose happy music because she wanted it to be a celebration of her life.”
Lynn prepared a PowerPoint presentation for the service and insisted on having chocolate fountains and champagne. “She wanted people to remember her the way she was - lively, vivacious and bubbly.”
