Thanks for all of the well wishes everyone. Yeah, it really sucks to be a widower at 35. You say your "I do's" and expect that you'll have a long time to drive each other nuts
Jen's goal was to beat Leukemia, and that she did. The transplant grafted well and she had been in remission since. Unfortunately, all of the side effects conspired against her and she lost her very courageously fought battle. Currently, I'm flipping through the whole emotional picture-book; Peace and agitation, relief and sorrow, blah, blah, blah. Someone asked me this past weekend
(quite retorically
) why these terrible diseases happen to such good people. Not one to let a retorical question lie, I replied "Because if these diseases happened mostly to bad adults, we wouldn't bother trying to find a cure for when innocent children are affected by them." Maybe not my most well thought blurb, but it made the point to me.
My Sifu
(martial arts teacher
) has a favorite saying that he uses to encourage all of us to strive for continuous improvement. "The rising tide raises all of the ships in the harbour." In other words, just one person who raises the bar for themselves raises the bar for everyone that they encounter. For many who knew her, Jen was that rising tide. Jen's best attribute is that she never accepted mediocrity from herself. Her "worst" attribute was that she never accepted it in anyone else either.
Below is the obituary that was run in a few local papers.
-Frank
===================================
Jennifer Rae Taylor-Aponte of Mechanicsburg, PA, died Sunday, April 9, 2006 at home surrounded by her family and friends. Born September 24, 1968 to the late Raymond J. Taylor and Gloria Taylor-Lichte of Warren, PA. Jennifer graduated from Warren Area High School in 1986 and earned her Master of Science degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992. She later went on to graduate from Penn State with a Master of Business Administration degree. She was most recently employed at Vectron International in Mt. Holly Springs, PA.
Surviving are her husband Frank Aponte, whom she married in August of 1996, her mother, her brother Randall Taylor of Bergen, NY, three sisters Mrs. Michael
(LuCinda
) Menard, Coudersport, Mrs. Michael
(Lorie
) Carr and Julie Taylor-Park, Warren, many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and her two canine companions Otis and Milo. Jennifer enjoyed gardening, cycling, scuba diving and volunteering at a local animal shelter.
On Saturday, April 15, 2006 a memorial service will the held at 3:00PM at the First United Methodist Church, Market Street, Warren, PA. Memorial Contributions can be made to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society - Central PA Chapter, 800 Corporate Circle, Suite 100, Harrisburg, PA 17110
(www.lls.org
) or The Helen O. Krause Animal Foundation, Inc., PO Box 311, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055
(www.helenkrause.org
).
Edited by scuba-punk 2006-04-12 5:50 PM