Remembering Liz Armbruster

It is a year this week since the passing of Liz Armbruster.  Wife, mother, grandmother, Liz was a frequent commenter on this site and the proprietor of her own wonderfully-written blog. Her death, at age 51, was sudden and unexpected, and she is missed deeply and personally. Last September, in tribute to Liz, I revised a poem written earlier about the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Billy Mays. As I said then, "I trust that Billy won't mind if I now call upon Liz to represent the mortality of us all."



Send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee. ~ John Donne



First the bell tolled for the King of Sidekicks,
and it tolled for a perfect pace,


And then the bell tolled for a TV Angel,
and it tolled for a heavenly face,


And then the bell tolled for the King of Pop,
and it tolled for an elegant grace,


And now the bell tolls for the humble blogger,
and it tolls for the human race.


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Why be saddled with this thing called life expectancy? Of what relevance to an individual is such a statistic? Am I to concern myself with an allotment of days I never had and was never promised? Must I check off each day of my life as if I am subtracting from this imaginary hoard? No, on the contrary, I will add each day of my life to my treasure of days lived. And with each day, my treasure will grow, not diminish.

~~ Robert Brault


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Some original thoughts of Liz Armbruster:

I brought children into this dark world because it needed the light that only a child can bring.

In what you say of another, apply the test of  kindness, necessity and truth, and let nothing pass your lips without a two-thirds majority.

~~ Liz Armbruster

R.I.P.