In short, ​I am writing a book. 

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I have been thinking about writing a book for probably fifteen years. I hear "You should write a book!" from people all the time. It is usually after I've shared a story about my family. The story, though, has been waiting to be told because it isn't really my story. I lived it and I am affected by it, but it is my mother's story. She is the main character. I just had to find the right voice to tell the tale of the magical, incomparable Judy Healy.

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Judy was a strong, loving, beautiful soul who loved her kids, had an amazing family and married a man full of demons, the biggest of which was alcohol. She had four children, three of whom left this world before she did, along with both of her parents and one brother. After the loss of her second born daughter Lori, from Leukemia in 1974 and her husband became more abusive, she left her home in Connecticut with three children and only a few outfits each. Her brothers, sisters and parents helped her escape. They flew to Venezuela to live with her brother and his family.

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Eventually, Judy and the kids moved to Florida and lived with her parents while she got back on her feet. She got a job, bought a house, raised her children to adulthood. She worked at the same company for about thirty years and was well respected in her field. She found love again.

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In 1997, her son Mark was killed when his vehicle was hit by a train after he left a customer's house. Three months prior to that, just after she stopped seeing a man she had been with for several years, he was killed when he was involved in a collision with a dump truck. Several months later, in 1998, her mother passed away.

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That year almost broke her. It was very close. We grew closer as a family, as we knew how quickly it could all change in an instant. 

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Things were good for many years. She worked, she moved to a new community, with the intention of retiring and enjoying a life as a Florida retiree. I guess God had a different plan for her. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2008. Unfortunately, they did not catch it until it had already traveled through her body and there was a tumor in her neck. She started treatment right away.

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Thanksgiving, 2009 brought devastating news. Her oldest daughter was diagnosed with an aggressive, triple negative breast cancer. Linda's battle was short, less than ten months. This was catastrophic for our family, she left behind a husband and three children. 

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It was only eight months later that Judy's cancer finally won. She was valiant in her fight. On the last appointment with her oncologist, I asked the doctor a question. "When my mother first came to see you, how long would you have given her, if she had asked you?" He replied, "Nine months." She battled her disease for almost three years.

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She used to tell me that when Lori passed away, she woke up every morning for Linda, Mark and me. When Mark was killed, she said she found the strength for Linda, me and her three grandchildren. When Linda lost her battle with breast cancer, Judy was tired. She told me that she was fighting her disease long enough to know that I was going to be okay.

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So, I guess I am okay. It is time to hear about the life of the person I have admired most in this world.  I will let you know when it is done.

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