With all of the special memories of 9/11 going around, I can't ignore another hero who lost her life on this date. She died on 9/11 -- but not in 2001. Linda Stirman quietly succumbed to the cancer that consumed her body early in the morning on 9/11/03. If you knew either of us, you know that my mother-in-law and I rarely saw eye-to-eye. Truthfully, even in her death, the more I learn about her the less I understand what made her tick.
But this I know: her long and loving marriage to Mike produced the good and godly man I chose for my husband, to raise my children with, and to run the race on this earth with. I am enormously grateful for the impact she had on my life and the lives of my family. I have had to watch her husband grieve the loss of a friend and partner, my husband grieve the loss of his mother, and my children grieve the loss of their Mimi. Her loss is one that makes heaven and the saints there that much sweeter.
