[Bumped -- Jed]
Kris Froland, a long-time Kossack under the moniker exmearden, who became a Featured Writer here in 2009, has died of complications from cardiac angiosarcoma in a Seattle hospital at age 52. Her daughters were at her bedside.
Her friends Sara R and KelleyRN2 will publish a memorial diary at Daily Kos in the next few days.
There will be no funeral. Exmearden requested a simple cremation with no immediate ceremony. However, there will be a celebration of her life in the spring for all Kossacks in the greater Seattle area.
From her Daily Kos biography:
"A writer, mother of three adult children, newly minted grandmother, and lifelong Pacific Northwesterner, aside from a brief habitation in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the early 1980s, her first memories of politics were pegged to family dinner discussions at a certain yellow formica table in a small coastal Oregon motel owned and operated by her "Kennedy Democrat" parents in the 1960s.
Once upon a time, exmearden had thoughts of becoming a professional golfer, a hermit driftwood sculptor, a CIA agent, a maritime attorney, or a civil war historian. Real-life endeavors in advertising, property management, high school teaching, library research, a two-week stint as an X-rated film projectionist, software trainer for the Air Force Reserve, and her subsequent two decades in the software industry persuaded her that alternative paths also offer a curious narrative."
KelleyRN2 writes:
"Exmearden loved the Daily Kos community profoundly. When she was diagnosed with cancer she took us along on her journey, drawing strength from our love and affection. When she was no longer able to text and email she asked me to share those updates with a short list of Kossacks. She could feel herself turning inward, as all do when death approaches, yet the reporter in her looked back and said, 'Tell the rest of it, Kelley.'"
From exmearden herself:
I want to stress ... that those of you I know who have contacted me to express your support and those who have communicated with me through this – well, you will always be a part of my healthier heart, the heart that exists as my soul and in my mind.
The heart that won't ever die.
My appreciation knows no bounds and I will never be able to express how great and how seriously important it has been to have touched base with all of you. There is nothing that can measure the healing impact of the words and deeds of a friend – I know these things, these words, these actions on the part of those around me and those who’ve touched my life have extended and enriched my life beyond measure. Friends and family all.
exmearden loved life fiercely and her friends even more so. Everyone who saw her last summer at Netroots Nation 2010 could not help but be astounded at her good humor and determination in the face of surgery that was then only a few days away. Not an ounce of self-pity. But a ton of concern and compassion for everyone else.
Goodbye, Kris. You were always one of our better angels.
You can read her diaries here.
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Photo of exmearden by navajo.