hey, i may be able to help. my memory is not very good, but i chatted with allan often, especially toward the end of his life. i felt connected to him because he moved here to get a tx at the hospital i go to and it turned out we had the same doctor! anyway, somewhere i have a copy of a letter i received back from governor easley, one of the people i had written to bring allan's case to his attention. it is depressing and doesn't say much. i made myself available to allan if he needed anything, or to help him raise money or whatever. unfortunately, not much besides the letters ever got off the ground. BUT, i did get him in touch with the woman from the news&observer who wrote that article about him.
i remember the day allan died. i will always remember it. i found out the news, i was very sad. i walked around in a sort of fog all that day. i would forget about it and then it would hit me again -- the pain all over again. it wasn't until that night that i really let go...i was doing my nebulizer treatment and just started silently sobbing.
you can't get close to everyone you meet with CF -- that would be emotionally impossible for me. you have to choose. allan i chose and i wasn't ever quite sure why except that we are both writers and i saw such talent and wisdom and potential in him. i can't even say we were "close friends," but i shared a very strong bond with him, from my side at least. i have not and i will not delete his name from my messenger or my email list. i do not ever want to forget.
laura
oh, i came across jessica's great strides website. the walk is sunday in chapel hill. if someone is in touch with jessica, could they tell her about the CF benefit at the cats cradle this friday? (there was a post on here about it.) i'm not sure if she is still living in NC, but if she is she might want to go.
sorry to keep adding on to this. so steve, if you are going to make a documentary of allan's life, why not use it as a chance to spread awareness about the lack of organ donation in this country??? i think helping to "fix" this problem would be the greatest tribute of all to allan.
