Taryn's Memorial Fund

I wasn’t prepared to write this post. I was sure I had more time to prepare, but time is a tricky thief, giving you just enough to feel grateful but simultaneously robbing you of the years you prayed for. There is never enough time or moments with your loved ones. My sister spent her 44 years spreading joy and light to those around her, making life a little more beautiful with her existence. She has been by my side my entire life, claiming me as her own from the minute I came home. I was always hers and she was always mine. I don’t know who I am without her. We were so entwined, at times hard to know where I ended, and she began. The right words don’t exist to express the grief my family and I feel right now or how beautifully extraordinary my sister truly was. I will feel forever blessed for the time I had with her knowing that it is never enough. She had suffered so much for the past year, continuing her fight for her family and friends. She told my mom and me last week she was sorry she was leaving us. She was more worried about how we would cope without her, than for herself. She made me promise not to keep her alive if there was a chance of brain damage or not being herself again. I agreed, not realizing how imminent that decision would be. The surgery for her GJ tube yesterday did not go as expected. The doctors came to let us know that fluid from her stomach had aspirated into her lungs, causing irreversible damage, and depriving her of the oxygen she needed. They offered measures to prolong her life, but they knew Taryn’s wishes just as well as we did. I could see it in their faces, she wasn’t coming back. They allowed us enough time to have her family come to be by her side and surround her with love in her last moments with us. Thank you all for your love and support of her over the last year. She had so many friends and people who loved her.