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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: December 30th
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Simon
Editor
# 1
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Posted
I spoke just now with Jason, Erin's brother, who told me what happened on the 30th. I'm posting it here with his permission.
Erin had seemed fine over Christmas. She talked with Jason on Christmas Eve and was with her sister Mandi on Christmas Day, and Jason spoke with her again on the evening of the 28th. "There was no indication she was sick," he said.
On the 29th she went down with flu. Jason later found a text on her cell phone letting her boss know she would be in late that day.
At 8am on the 30th, Erin called a friend from work asking if she could bring her some medicine. The friend lived round the corner and so came straight over and asked if she needed the doctor. She said, no, just that her legs hurt, her bones felt cold and she was generally achy. "I'll call if I need you," she said.
At 10am, she called her friend again, saying she was worse, and asking if she could be driven to the hospital. When the friend arrived, she found her lethargic and disoriented, and blue around her mouth. She immediately called an ambulance, which arrived quickly and took Erin to the hospital, a couple of miles away.
As soon as the doctor in the ER saw her, he knew something was seriously wrong but wasn't sure what was causing it. He called Erin's doctor, and in the 2-3 minutes he was on the call, she stopped breathing. They went into CPR but her heart had stopped and they could not revive her.
Jason arrived at the hospital shortly after, and the doctor cried as he told him the news. He and the nursing staff all knew Erin, as it was the hospital where she worked. "She was not alone, or with strangers," he told me. "She was surrounded by friends and people who knew her when she died."
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Postscript
After Jason posted in the Styx, a shipmate emailed Erin to say, "If you've died, I want to hear it from you!" Jason said he was very tempted to email back, "How can I when I've gone?" He said Erin would have loved that. "She would have laughed her ass off."
He also told me that when he posted that the funeral service would be "helled" on Friday, it was his little joke on us. "That's how it was between us from when we were kids," he said. "She was always saying to me, 'Hey, jackass!'"
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Eternal memory
Posts: 3787 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2001
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Viola
Administrator
# 20
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Posted
Thanks Simon (and Jason) for sharing all that.
Re the postscript: Jason would fit right in here, and given that I suspect I know whose email he's talking about, I so wish he'd sent that reply!
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"If ye love me, keep my commandments" John 14:15
"Commandment number one: shut the hell up." Erin Etheredge 1971-2010
Posts: 4345 | From: West of England | Registered: May 2001
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TomOfTarsus
Shipmate
# 3053
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Posted
What a horridly unexpected thing! Thank you Simon and Jason, us poor folk can't help but be curious.
It almost sounds like H1N1, as it is supposedly worse for those that are young to middle aged and with fairly strong immune systems. But , in the end, what does it matter? She's with the Father...
More ![[Votive]](graemlins/votive.gif)
Tom
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By grace are ye saved through faith... not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath ... ordained that we should walk in them.
Posts: 1570 | From: Pittsburgh, PA USA | Registered: Jul 2002
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marmot
Mountain mammal
# 479
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Posted
Thank you for sharing that, Simon. I'm not sure why we felt the need to know, but we did, and I, for one, am comforted that she was not in protracted pain and was not alone at the time of her passing.
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Join me in "The Legion of Bad Monkeys"
Posts: 2754 | From: The land of Saint Damien | Registered: Jun 2001
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Rowen
Shipmate
# 1194
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Posted
I thank you too, for letting us know.
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"May I live this day… compassionate of heart" (John O’Donoghue)...
Posts: 4897 | From: Somewhere cold in Victoria, Australia | Registered: Aug 2001
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ToujoursDan
Ship's prole
# 10578
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Posted
Shocking, but I too am glad that she didn't long term pain. Thank you for sharing.
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"Many people say I embarrass them with my humility" - Archbishop Peter Akinola
Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/toujoursdan
Posts: 3734 | From: NYC | Registered: Oct 2005
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Mamacita
Lakefront liberal
# 3659
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by marmot:
Thank you for sharing that, Simon. I'm not sure why we felt the need to know, but we did, and I, for one, am comforted that she was not in protracted pain and was not alone at the time of her passing.
This says it perfectly.
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Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.
Posts: 20761 | From: where the purple line ends | Registered: Dec 2002
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Zeke
Ship's Inquirer
# 3271
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Posted
I was so shocked to hear of this. Erin was very kind to me and I am so sad. I'm sure she will make a huge impression on Heaven.
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No longer the Bishop of Durham
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If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be without it? --Benjamin Franklin
Posts: 5259 | From: Deep in the American desert | Registered: Sep 2002
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
Thank you Simon and Jason. It is a comfort to know that Erin had friends nearby when she passed.
So, so sudden. ![[Tear]](graemlins/tear.gif)
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Wesley J
Silly Shipmate
# 6075
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Posted
Thank you. ![[Frown]](frown.gif)
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Be it as it may: Wesley J will stay. --- Euthanasia, that sounds good. An alpine neutral neighbourhood. Then back to Britain, all dressed in wood. Things were gonna get worse. (John Cooper Clarke)
Posts: 7354 | From: The Isles of Silly | Registered: May 2004
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comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
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Posted
Thank you.
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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
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Ariston
Insane Unicorn
# 10894
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Posted
Also many thanks. I'm not sure what else I can say—anything this profound, well, always seems to make anything I say inadequate—but, since that's the best thing I can say, I will.
And goodbye.
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“Therefore, let it be explained that nowhere are the proprieties quite so strictly enforced as in men’s colleges that invite young women guests, especially over-night visitors in the fraternity houses.” Emily Post, 1937.
Posts: 6849 | From: The People's Republic of Balcones | Registered: Jan 2006
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IngoB
Sentire cum Ecclesia
# 8700
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Posted
From healthy to dead in one day from flu? That is really scary. Somehow it is more scary given that I now know Erin was precisely my age... Any official word on the cause of death?
Thanks for that anyhow, it really does good to know.
I'm now hoping that we shall see a picture of Erin. It would be nice to put a human face to the gator avatar...
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They’ll have me whipp’d for speaking true; thou’lt have me whipp’d for lying; and sometimes I am whipp’d for holding my peace. - The Fool in King Lear
Posts: 12010 | From: Gone fishing | Registered: Oct 2004
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Robert Armin
All licens'd fool
# 182
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Posted
Thank you for letting us know. It still doesn't make any sense to me though.
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Keeping fit was an obsession with Fr Moity .... He did chin ups in the vestry, calisthenics in the pulpit, and had developed a series of Tai-Chi exercises to correspond with ritual movements of the Mass. The Antipope Robert Rankin
Posts: 8927 | From: In the pack | Registered: May 2001
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QLib
Bad Example
# 43
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Posted
A dearly, dearly loved ex-colleague died in a similar way about two and a half years ago, but she was 60 and on immuno-suppressant drugs for rheumatoid arthritis. Still grieving for that. Finding this is so similar - same symptoms, same loving caring people powerless to help, is - I don't know - 'weird' doesn't really cover it.
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Tradition is the handing down of the flame, not the worship of the ashes Gustav Mahler.
Posts: 8913 | From: Page 28 | Registered: May 2001
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
Thank you Simon (and the family for sharing).
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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The Weeder
Shipmate
# 11321
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Posted
I have lost both my sibs in the last few months, completely unexpectedly. I am now grieving for someone I never met IRL, and feel it as a great loss.
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Still missing the gator
Posts: 2542 | From: LaLa Land | Registered: Apr 2006
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Matt Black
Shipmate
# 2210
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Posted
Thanks, chaps.
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"Protestant and Reformed, according to the Tradition of the ancient Catholic Church" - + John Cosin (1594-1672)
Posts: 14304 | From: Hampshire, UK | Registered: Jan 2002
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Malin
Shipmate
# 11769
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Posted
Thank you. I am glad she was with people she knew.
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'Is it a true bird or is it something that exists within a-'
'It's a thing that is,' said Granny sharply. 'Don't go spilling allegory all down your shirt.' Terry Pratchett
Posts: 1901 | From: Norwich | Registered: Aug 2006
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Ancient Mariner
Sip the ship
# 4
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Posted
Thanks for the info. With Miss Molly we went on a long, long journey. With Erin we were denied even the first few steps.
[ 06. January 2011, 12:08: Message edited by: Ancient Mariner ]
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Ship of Fools' first novel, Rattles & Rosettes, is the tale of two football (soccer) fans: 16-year-old Tom in 1914 and Dan in 2010. More at www.rattlesandrosettes.com
Posts: 2582 | From: St Helens (near Liverpool) UK | Registered: May 2001
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dj_ordinaire
Host
# 4643
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Posted
Please thank Jason for sharing with us. Like others, I am glad that our revered Gator wasn't alone, or suffering.
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Flinging wide the gates...
Posts: 10335 | From: Hanging in the balance of the reality of man | Registered: Jun 2003
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cor ad cor loquitur
Shipmate
# 11816
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Posted
Thanks, Simon and Jason.
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Quam vos veritatem interpretationis, hanc eruditi κακοζηλίαν nuncupant … si ad verbum interpretor, absurde resonant. (St Jerome, Ep. 57 to Pammachius)
Posts: 1332 | From: London | Registered: Sep 2006
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
Thank you both. So sudden.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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Dormouse
Glis glis – Ship's rodent
# 5954
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Posted
Like everyone else: thanks to Simon & Jason for letting us know.
for all that have been affected by Erin"s sudden death
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What are you doing for Lent?
40 days, 40 reflections, 40 acts of generosity. Join the #40acts challenge for #Lent and let's start a movement. www.40acts.org.uk
Posts: 3042 | From: 'twixt les Bois Noirs & Les Monts de la Madeleine | Registered: May 2004
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Simon
Editor
# 1
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by IngoB:
Any official word on the cause of death?
From my conversation with Jason: The doctor on duty said the cause of death was a catastrophic drop in blood pH, which apparently means the heart has to work much harder to maintain blood pressure. In Erin's case that battle was lost and she went into organ failure. The cause of the drop in blood pH was sepsis. I'm no medic, so take this as the notes I made while Jason was talking.
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Eternal memory
Posts: 3787 | From: London | Registered: Mar 2001
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Nenuphar
Shipmate
# 16057
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Posted
Thank you Simon and Jason. How appallingly, shockingly, frighteningly sudden. for all.
Posts: 161 | From: UK | Registered: Dec 2010
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Jack the Lass
Ship's airhead
# 3415
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Posted
Heartbreaking
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"My body is a temple - it's big and doesn't move." (Jo Brand)
wiblog blipfoto blog
Posts: 5767 | From: the land of the deep-fried Mars Bar | Registered: Oct 2002
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Geneviève
Mother-Hatting Cat Lover
# 9098
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Posted
With others, thank you for letting us know what happened, and I am so very glad she was not alone at the end.
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"Ineffable" defined: "I cannot and will not be effed with." (Courtesy of CCTooSweet in Running the Books)
Posts: 4336 | From: Eastern US | Registered: Feb 2005
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Piglet
Islander
# 11803
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Posted
I can only reiterate what everyone else has said; what an awful thing to happen to someone not yet 40. May she rest in peace.
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I may not be on an island any more, but I'm still an islander.
alto n a soprano who can read music
Posts: 20272 | From: Fredericton, NB, on a rather larger piece of rock | Registered: Sep 2006
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clare
Contributing Editor
# 17
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Posted
Thanks Simon and Jason. A knot in my stomach reading this, but as others have posted, glad that there were little bits of comfort among the awfulness.
Posts: 2317 | From: edge of the peak district | Registered: May 2001
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Gee D
Shipmate
# 13815
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Posted
Thank you, Simon and Jason for the information. And thanks to You for the bravery You gave them to share this.
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Not every Anglican in Sydney is Sydney Anglican
Posts: 7028 | From: Warrawee NSW Australia | Registered: Jun 2008
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Thanks, Simon and Jason. I'm glad she had friends with her.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Lady A
Narnian Lady
# 3126
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Posted
What a gift to share with us all - details in the midst of so much pain. Thank you Jason and Simon.
Posts: 2545 | From: The Lion's Mane, Narnia | Registered: Aug 2002
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Ecclesiastical Flip-flop
Shipmate
# 10745
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Posted
Thanks Simon and Jason for sharing this. Now that I have explored this sad matter further, I am getting more and more aware of the reality of the situation.
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Joyeuses Pâques! Frohe Ostern! Buona Pasqua! ¡Felices Pascuas! Happy Easter!
Posts: 1946 | From: Surrey UK | Registered: Dec 2005
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Bean Sidhe
Shipmate
# 11823
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Posted
I can't add anything to what others have said. Just so awful.
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How do you know when a politician is lying?
His lips are moving.
Danny DeVito
Posts: 4363 | From: where the taxis won't go | Registered: Sep 2006
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duchess
Ship's Blue Blooded Lady
# 2764
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Posted
Oh LORD. So fast, so sudden.
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♬♭ We're setting sail to the place on the map from which nobody has ever returned ♫♪♮
Ship of Fools-World Party
Posts: 11197 | From: Do you know the way? | Registered: May 2002
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Autenrieth Road
Shipmate
# 10509
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Posted
Not saying anything original, but I wanted to add my own words. Thank you Simon for posting this, and thank you Jason for permitting Simon to share it with us. I don't know why it helps to know what happened, but it does.
Rest in peace and rise in glory, Erin
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Truth
Posts: 9559 | From: starlight | Registered: Oct 2005
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Marinaki
Varangian Guard
# 343
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Posted
Oh my goodness! That's a real shock. Thank you for letting us know!
May God grant rest to her soul!
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IC I XC "If thou bear thy cross
---+--- cheerfully, it will bear
NI I KA thee."
Posts: 696 | From: London | Registered: Jun 2001
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Scarlet
Mellon Collie
# 1738
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Posted
Simon and Jason, thanks from me as well for graciously allowing this to be shared.
Erin was almost the same age as my daughter, who is Wandering with Hope on Ship, but sends her condolences as well, since her account is way past inactive...
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They took from their surroundings what was needed... and made of it something more.
—dialogue from Primer
Posts: 4769 | Registered: Nov 2001
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
Thank you for this information. I think it helps me to know and understand what happened, which helps me with accepting this.
One the one hand, it is still very sad, and on the other, a stark warning about the dangers of flu, which is not as innocuous as it is often treated.
And I am glad that she was with friends, and appears not to have suffered.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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Rossweisse
High Church Valkyrie
# 2349
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Janine:
I figure Heaven has been impressed with her all along.
I need a thumbs-up emoticon or something for this.
Thank you, Simon, for giving us the scoop on what happened.
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I'm not dead yet.
Posts: 15117 | From: Valhalla | Registered: Feb 2002
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comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
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Posted
I've been thinking about this since Simon has posted and figured I'd share my thought. I am "made" to get the influenza shot every year because of my MS. I resent this normally. as your basic closet libertarian I dont like being "made" to do anything.
I will never resent that shot again. nor will I overlook my kids getting it.
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Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
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Miss Monica
Apprentice
# 16131
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Posted
According to the British Medical Journal, the leading cause of death related to influenza is secondary pneumonia.
http://thinktwice.com/BMJ_Flu.pdf
"…according to the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), 'influenza and pneumonia' took 62,034 lives in 2001 — 61,777 of which were attributed to pneumonia and 257 to flu, and in only 18 cases was flu virus positively identified."
A pneumonia vaccination prevents the most common 23 serotypes of infection.
http://www.medicinenet.com/pneumococcal_vaccination/article.htm
I’ve read that Streptococcus pneumoniae septicaemia is common in people with system lupus erythematosus. & those with SLE are urged to receive the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine.
I think knowing the answer to "why?" is life's booby prize. & yet I too still wanted to know. & kept coming to the bulletin board to find out.
And now I probably know "why" and there's still nothing I can do about it. Q.E.D.
(The brain is a problem creating machine. It thinks it can go back in time to solve the problems it is devising in the present.)
Erin was so smart, vibrant, and vivid, she seemed to me to be invincible. I had nothing but respect for her (and the occasional rosy-warm feeling from her having smacked me a good one). And even though I hadn't talked to her in 10 years... Taking this hard.
Posts: 2 | From: United States | Registered: Jan 2011
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Banner Lady
Ship's Ensign
# 10505
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Posted
Miss Monica, I joined long after you left. I have enjoyed your posts tremendously - and I sincerely hope you will let all us latecomers get to know you better. Please stick around. Too much loss of brilliance in such a short time would be doubly devastating.
Just saying.
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Women in the church are not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be enjoyed.
Posts: 7080 | From: Canberra Australia | Registered: Oct 2005
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