Goodbye, Mary Lou

We attended a celebration of life for Mary Lou Goss, who died last month after a year-long battle with lung cancer.

I worked with Mary Lou for seven and a half years in Federal Way. She was one of the kindest people I have ever known. For some reason, I vividly remember when she held both of my boys when they were babies. She always wanted to see pictures of the boys, too.

Even in the thick of her cancer battle, she showed up to the office with a smile and a positive attitude. She never played the "cancer card" and never wanted you to feel sorry for her. Toward the end, she was coughing and wheezing a lot, and the chemotherapy was pounding her body into submission. But she kept on keepin' on.

She always asked about her co-workers' families and children, and she always gushed about her own. It didn't matter if an angry customer barged into the office, dumped a stack of wet newspapers on her desk and cussed up a storm. She stayed calm and polite - even though she had every right to say "Fuck you, I have cancer."

One evening, I was wrapping up an email to Amanda when Mary Lou let me know she was the last one out and was locking the door. I was typing "I love you" to Amanda when I said "Bye, I love you" out loud to Mary Lou. There was a pause, and she said with a laugh, "I love you too, Andy." I was red-faced at the mix-up, but at the same time, I realized I meant it in the most platonic way possible. Everyone at that office loved Mary Lou.

At today's celebration, her husband, Phil, said over and over again that Mary Lou would want us to celebrate rather than mourn. It was a blessing to share stories about Mary Lou with my former colleagues. It was a privilege to celebrate Mary Lou.

Some people simply make life sweeter. Goodbye, Mary Lou. We promise to keep posting photos of the boys ...