alison
August 5, 2008
Alison passed away tonight around 7pm. She was surrounded by all the family and friends one could possibly hope for… Surrounded by love. Each one taking time to say goodbye, hold her hand, tell her they loved her. Tom was amazing…
The sun sets each evening, but the sun is always rising somewhere else.
We loved you so much Alison. Always will.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
no words…just love.
i’m so sorry…
August 5th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
I’m sorry, Penny.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
I’m so sorry. We never met, but i could tell from her blog that she was a special person.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:19 am
I am so sorry, my thoughts are with you all.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Heaven just gained another star…
My thoughts go out to all the people who loved Alison.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:41 am
i’m so sorry.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:55 am
…I’m really sorry…
August 6th, 2008 at 4:14 am
penelope…my heart sinks for each of you.
i watched in amazement of your brothers love
for the beautiful alison.
she is a shining star….
peace.
kelly
August 6th, 2008 at 5:24 am
I am so sorry to hear this news. She was so very brave and so very loved.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:25 am
I’m so sorry, Penelope, thank you for introducing us to dear Alison, she became a touchstone for me. My thoughts are with you and your family.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:29 am
I’m so sorry Penelope. My thoughts are with you.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:43 am
I’m so sorry - I was really rooting for Alison (and the rest of you as well).
August 6th, 2008 at 5:47 am
I am so sorry, her spirit was such a sweet one. What a unique time for you. I am so happy to hear about your pregnancy. You are going be an amazing parent.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:47 am
I’m sorry for the loss of your beautiful sister in law. May she be at peace now, and my hopes are that your brother and all of your and Alison’s family find peace as well. The hardest thing about dying are the ones who get left behind. My thought are with you all.
August 6th, 2008 at 6:11 am
I’m so sorry Penelope. Thinking of you.
August 6th, 2008 at 6:15 am
I am so very sorry. You and your family are in my thoughts. {{{{{{}}}}}}
August 6th, 2008 at 6:17 am
i read the news last night and could not believe it. this is so heartbreaking, i have prayed for her every step of the way.
sending you love, penelope. you, and tom and your family are on my heart and mind. wishing you comfort and peace.
August 6th, 2008 at 6:20 am
OUR PRAYER FOR ALISON
May choirs of angels lead you into paradise and may the martyrs come to welcome you and bring you home into the Holy City so you may dwell in new Jersusalem. May Holy angels be there at your welcoming, with all the saints who go before you there that you may know the pease and joy of paradise. That you may enter into everlasting rest.
Amen
August 6th, 2008 at 6:31 am
I am so sorry to hear about Alison’s passing. My heart and thoughts go out to your, your family, and especially your brother.
August 6th, 2008 at 6:40 am
A strong woman, a strong family, an amazing husband. It tests the limits of faith to watch such an amazing woman withstand the depths that she had to go through - yet at the same time I read about your pregnancy and see how as one life ends, another begins… My heart is heavy, and for Tom and you and your family and hers I cannot describe how sorry I am for you to lose such an incredible woman in your lives, for as she was lucky to have you, the people that love her were certainly the luckier ones.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:01 am
I am so very, very sorry!
My thoughts and prayers are with your family.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:03 am
thinking of you and your family. i’m so sorry.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:05 am
I’m so sorry to hear this. We’ll be praying for you all.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:21 am
I am so sorry. Thinking of you and your family during this time…
August 6th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Penny;
My prayers are with you and your family. Alison and Tom shared an amazing love and she truly touched everyone she came into contact with, even if via the internet. I know she will be missed by many. I rejoice that she is now pain free.
{ Lindsey }
August 6th, 2008 at 7:24 am
So, so sorry.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Prayers.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:38 am
Penny,
I’m so sorry to hear of Alison’s passing. My thoughts are with you and your family.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:01 am
Peace, grief takes many shapes, be gentle on yourself, and those around you. Allow for the process. Hugs.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:10 am
I am so sorry. I am crying for you and your family. You are in my thoughts.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:13 am
how my heart aches for your loss — my prayers and thoughts are with you and your family. alison had such a beautiful heart and spirit. in this moment of grief and pain, know that there is a community of strangers with tender thoughts supporting you.
August 6th, 2008 at 8:48 am
I wish your family peace in this difficult time.
I imagine Alison sparkling and happy beautiful up there in Heaven.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:02 am
I am so, so sorry for you, your bother and your family. I am thinking of you.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:41 am
I am so sorry to hear about your loss.
May the God of all comfort bring you peace in this time of sorrow. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:51 am
Penny,
I wanted to call you last night but didn’t want to be a bother in a time when I’m sure you needed to be there for your brother. I know that’s what I would be doing if I were in your shoes.
I know you and Alison became very close when you lived in SC, just as you and I did when you were a mere 10 minutes away from me in Indy. I’m so sorry for your loss, and the pain Tom and Alison’s family will endure in the weeks, months, and years to come.
As your only other sister-in-law, I want to be sure that I am doing all that I can for you and Tom right now. Please don’t hesitate to ask for anything you need. I am here for you, and feel lucky to have you as my only sister-in-law.
Love,
Katie
August 6th, 2008 at 9:59 am
I’m so sorry. (*hugs*)
August 6th, 2008 at 10:24 am
I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Alison’s grace and love for your brother touched so many hearts. Your family is in my thoughts and prayers.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:57 am
I’m so sorry, Penelope…. Love and prayers to you and your family.
August 6th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I´m very sorry to hear these news and have no idea of what I could ever write to make it better.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Loving thoughts to you and your family. May you all find comfort and peace. Take care.
Susan
August 6th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Love, hugs and prayers to your whole family. What amazing and earth-shaking things you’ve been dealing with in the past few months…
August 6th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Penelope, you and your family have our heartfelt sympathy and continuing prayers. She is resting in comfort and peace now and I hope you all will be able to find comfort and peace when it’s time as well.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
I am truly sorry to hear of this loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
August 6th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
I’m so sorry. You and your family are in my prayers.
Are there any charities that we can make a donation to in Alison’s name?
August 6th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I just have to say: while it is so sad that you have lost Alison…how appropriate that she would pass on, just as you are announcing the birth of a new soul. I have goosebumps.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
so very hard.
and so very sacred.
and so impossible to find words that work.
much love to all of you…
jen gray
August 6th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd when he stands before the king whose hand is to be laid upon him in honour.
Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling, that he shall wear the mark of the king?
Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?
For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides, that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?
Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.
~ by Kahlil Gibran
(so sorry penny)
August 6th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
i’m grieving with you. i’ve followed alison’s journey via your website and hers for some time now. she is a most beautiful soul, that i can say for certain.
i’m off to light a candle for you and your family.
may peace be with all of you.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Penny,
I was very new to Alison’s story, but I’ve been following yours for a while. I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you so much for sharing her story and yours with all of us “strangers.”
August 6th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
So sorry for your loss.
August 6th, 2008 at 4:11 pm
I am so sorry for your family’s loss. On the day my sister died in 1997, I found a slip of paper with this quote:
“Death is nothing at all, I have only slipped away into the next room. I am I, and you are you; whatever we were to each other, that, we still are. Call me by my old familiar name, speak to me in the easy way which you always used, put no difference in your tone, wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we shared together. Let my name ever be the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same as it ever was. There is unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just around the corner. All is well.
–Henry Scott Holland
My thoughts are with you, Penelope.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
So very sorry, my heart goes out to you and your family and friends
August 6th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Peace and blessings to you and your family. I am sorry for your loss.
August 6th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Love & peace to you and your family. It’s amazing how so many of us can be touched by someone we didn’t even know. A thread’s there that connects us all. Count on it.
August 6th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
oh darling…
my heart just skipped a whole beat…
i’m so sorry to hear this sweetheart… it feels like such a week of endings and beginnings…
my heart goes out to you & tom & all your family…
with big hugs & love
leonie
August 6th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I am so sorry.
August 6th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I’m so sorry for your loss…Alison was a beautiful soul, a real inspiration…my thoughts are with you and your family…
August 6th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Deepest sympathies to you and your loved ones. Please take care.
August 6th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
I am so sorry for your loss…
August 6th, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Oh Penny, I’m so sorry. I wish peace for Alison and sacredness as she crosses over. Sending you and all of her loved ones deep sympathy.
Love, pixie
August 6th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
Such a bittersweet time for you. I’m so sorry for your loss. Peace to you and your family.
August 7th, 2008 at 1:24 am
sending a prayer for her and you all…
August 7th, 2008 at 4:27 am
hello penny, i am so sad to read this. love and best wishes to you and all your family.
August 7th, 2008 at 4:38 am
Peace to you, and your family.
So sorry for your loss.
August 7th, 2008 at 5:38 am
I am so touched by your words and Tom’s. What an amazingly strong man. We are thinking of you and your family. You all have such a positive attitude and you can tell the impact Allison made.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:03 am
I am so sorry for your loss. I only knew Allison through her blog and yours and Tom’s and she seemed like a very special person. I hope she is now at peace. And someday Tom and your families find that peace too.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Oh, Penelope…I’m so sorry. My hugs and prayers go out to you all.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:34 am
Oh no, I’m so sorry Penelope, what a tremendous loss. My deepest condolences.
August 7th, 2008 at 7:00 am
I’m so sorry, I’ve been reading her blog for the past two years and praying. I never met her but just from her blog I know she was an amazing person. My heart and prayers goes out to you and your family.
August 7th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Grace and grief are the twins that at times hold hands and then fly independently of each other. The breath that sustained Alison now sheens in the Universe collectively holding you, Tom and her loved ones to her spirit. She’s the whisper of the wind, the invisible hand hugging your child, she watches from the Earth’s balcony of beauty. Sweet dreams Alison and much love to you Penelope.
Trish
patriciadolan@comcast.net
August 7th, 2008 at 7:39 am
My heart feels heavy for your loss. Sending peace to you in this sad time.
August 7th, 2008 at 9:21 am
oh, I am so sorry! I knew of her sweet and brave soul through your blog. Much comfort to you and your family!
August 7th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Every time you mentioned her my heart sent a little prayer out into the universe. I was always hopeful she would finally find the treatment that worked. Condolences seems like such an inadequate word, but I wish your family peace in these dark times. Hold onto each other.
August 7th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
my thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time……peace
August 7th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
This is heartbreaking. I’m so sorry for your family and the entire Alison team. She fought hard and you all did so well by her. I am so, so sorry.
August 7th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Oh I am so sorry for you and for your brother and for everyone who loved her. She sounds like she was an incredible person.
August 7th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
From the elation of the news in your last post, to this. My heart breaks for you, and of course Tom, through my own tear-blurred eyes and tensed throat. I’m so sorry.
You were all very fortunate to have had the opportunity all be together when she passed. Not everyone is that lucky.
My thought and warm wishes go out to you all, and of course I send a beam of love and light to Alison to help her along her next journey.
hug
August 8th, 2008 at 3:32 am
my heart goes out to you and your family
hugs from the other side of the world xxxx
August 8th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Having been gone from visiting blogs for a bit, I just came over to see how you are ~ and in all of two days the cycle of life is so very present here. My heart is so happy to hear of the news of your little one on the way and my heart is also so sad for your loss ~ having just lost my ex brother in law suddenly I can unexpectedly relate. I too was followed Alison’s story here on your blog and was inspired by her strength and the strength of you and your family ~ thank you for your willingness to share this part of your life so graciously. And since there are no words that ever feel “right” in these moments, I just want to say that I am thinking of you and your family ~ sending you love.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:50 am
So many thoughts…I am so sorry and send you and Alison’s spirit my deepest love.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Hello Dear One…I am so sorry. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers. Big hugs…Christine
August 8th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
FUCK CANCER!!!
August 9th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
Peace to you. I am so sorry for your loss.
August 9th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Oh I’m so sorry for your loss *hugs*
August 10th, 2008 at 5:17 am
I have been following Alison’s blog since before her diagnosis. This has broken my heart. I am so sorry for your loss. I will keep praying for you and your family.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:59 am
I am so very sorry. Alison and Tom’s lives have changed how I live my life, how I view life. I am so grateful they had the courage to share it with strangers. You all are in my thoughts and prayers.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:25 am
P-
It is always good seeing you and Colin. Definitley a BIG bright spot during all this sadness. The girls are thrilled and sure hope that someday we can all catch up again. In the meantime email me you contact info, address and cell. Tom gave me your number and I lost it whhile I was packing to get to IN. Anyhow, we are packing now and getting ready to leave.Take care and live in the moment. This baby is a true blessing and will show you your hearts true capaicity to love.
You can get my info from Tom or I will email it to you.
Take care!
Kimberly, Madi & Kenzie
August 10th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
…my deepest condolences…
August 11th, 2008 at 6:33 am
Sending you and your family healing thoughts.
August 11th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
..my heart goes out to you and your family, Penalope.. so very sorry for your loss…
August 12th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
Oh no!!! Such sad news. I am so sorry!
August 14th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I am so, so very sorry for your loss. To see your brother’s words speaking of his love for Alison is one of the most beautiful things I’ve every read. The power of love is amazing.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I’m really sorry for your loss. I send you all my love.
August 14th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
I am so sorry for your loss…you will be in my thoughts
August 21st, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Oh God. I’m so very sorry. I checked on her website from time to time, and she was such a beautiful person. She still is a beautiful person. My love to all your family in this.