A Poem For Stacy

My dear, sweet, beautiful friend, Stacy Shannon Downing, passed away in April of 1980. I loved Stacy fiercely- she was the best part of me; the person I wished I could be, and I stubbornly clung to my denial that Cystic Fibrosis would ever take her away from me.

During Spring Break of my freshman year in college, I went to visit Stacy a few times at NIH in Bethesda, Md, where she had become a regular due to issues from her disease. The last time I visited, her family was all gathered there and told me that Stacy would not make it through the day. Reality had finally punched me in my gut.

I watched Stacy leave me. I watched her leave her family. I was numb, stumbling away from the hospital, trying to come to terms with what I had vehemently refused to accept until that moment.

My parents both loved Stacy, and my father was compelled to put his thoughts about Stacy's beautiful spirit into words-

I am glad that my daughter

Had such a friend.

And even in life, if never again,

She knows such a person,

So charmed, in her way,

Just to have loved her

Was to capture a ray.

A ray of sunshine,

A ray of such light,

A spirit engaged

In life's fragile fight.

A fight without rancor,

A fight without hate,

A fight to avoid

A too soon fate.

A person of hope,

Who saw joy in living,

And whose greatest rewards

Were truly in giving.

Who gave of herself

In such constant measure,

That to be her friend,

Was to know every treasure.

A treasure of trust,

A treasure of worth,

A treasure of example,

Of joy and mirth.

A treasure more lasting

Than silver or gold,

A treasure that only

The spirit can hold.

Her strength and her presence

Now live on in others,

As though all who knew her

Are sisters and brothers,

Joined as a family

With its joys and its sorrows,

Who because she lived

Have more faith in tomorrow.

A faith that life

Must be more than appears,

And to give of one's self

Is to live without fears.

For life given to others

Through pain and through strife,

Is to live on forever.

Stacy conquered life.

-William J. Gould, Jr.