 ASMUSSEN, ANNA BETH To our beautiful friends and family: Your words bring such joy and comfort to my heart. Anna Beth had a hard time leaving us, but finally when she succumbed I knew she was holding the hand of her guardian angel. Two of the people I told her to meet when she arrived in heaven was my Mom and Dad (in-law), Lillian and Des. They were my parents from the time I was 20.....showing me such kindness and love, equivalent to their own other three children. I told Anna Beth that mom was just like her....funny, a lover of life, a passionate one of the water, giving to others, and the ability to fill a room the moment she walked through the door....only then would the party begin. And, dad.the epitome of the ultimate gentleman. He tried to be gruff on the outside, but was the squishiest bunch of love on the inside. These two people, I told Anna Beth, would embrace her as their daughter and introduce her to the "fun side" of heaven. And so many others have been waiting for her, including our two Berners, Kiowa Kate and Koshari Ann. People at the dog park LOVED seeing AB come with our fur-kids, because then the ordinary evening would turn into a joyful "love-fest". Anna Beth impacted the world with her unending enthusiasm, helping others through Make-A-Wish, Easter Seals and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, volunteerism through many organizations, including the Annual Aids Walk, where we met in 1994. She was a recruiter for the freshman class of UNM where she introduced herself to President Peck and said "I am here to rock your freshman enrollment"and she did. She was everything I was not.a gregarious social being, made an impact wherever she went, an entrepreneurial spirit where she opened her own landscape design business and our retail shop (Dawg Gone Good) in Nob Hill that pampered dogs and their humans. And SO much more. The diagnosis of stage-4, small-cell lung cancer came in June of 2013 afterwhich she went through three rounds of chemo and two rounds of radiation. Each round was ten exhausting visits. We even flew to Atlanta for a second opinion and found that our very own University of New Mexico Cancer Center would offer us the same treatment options. In April, we had plans to visit my brother in Florida so that AB could swim with the manatees. Plans had to be cancelled as the cancer had metastasized from her lungs into her liver, rib cage, pelvic area, lymph nodes, brain, and lastly in her spinal cord.rendering her unable to walk. For the last month when she could no longer use the wheelchair, Anna Beth was in bed where hospice nurses came in 3-6 hours a week and gave her the best of care. The remaining time, I was it. I guess my experience as a teen Candy Striper and a nurse's aide in college was put to good use. Even though the days were long and wearing, I considered it to be the greatest honor to have been able to be her caregiver. She passed away in our bed at 6:30am, Tuesday, the 23rd of September. Next month we would have celebrated 20 years together. In Albuquerque we will plant a memorial tree for Anna Beth at Bull Head's dog park behind the VA Hospital. There will be a "celebration of life" November 8th in Tucson, Anna Beth's home town. Notification of its location and time will be on the Facebook pages for Anna Beth and "Dawg Gone Good". I hope to have you come and give your final farewells to my blessed life-partner and amazing friend, Anna Beth Asmussen. Thank you again.Judy Luttrell, Kachina, and Mr. Pi (3.14)
|
