Maire's Journey

A celebration for Maire with Jill Jack and friends

One of the things that we have taken for granted in today’s world is a simple home cooked meal and spending an evening with our friends and family. Sure the holidays we make time and for a lot of us it may feel like work so we do not necessarily enjoy as much as we would like or should. Put yourself in someone like Maire Kent’s shoes and imagine being in and out of the hospital and having to eat bland hospital food when your appetite is dwindling.

We took it upon ourselves to set up an evening for Maire with her brother Breandan and her close friend and caregiver Crystal to enjoy some great home-cooked food and friendly company. Dr. Monika Leja, cardio-oncologist at the University of Michigan hospital, continued to go above-and-beyond a doctor’s responsibility. She along with our good friend Jill Jack, Michigan’s most awarded female singer/songwriter (http://www.jilljack.com/), were there as well other friends.

Keith and family prepared a wonderful meal and everyone sat and talked, told funny stories and had a great time. A good friend of Keith’s, George Wurtzel and his friend Sharon, were in from out of town to enjoy the night and met Maire. George is a blind woodworker (http://www.gmwurtzel.com/).

The night would conclude with Jill singing a few songs for everyone and striking an emotional cord with Maire and for that matter everyone in the room. The song “So Many Angels” by Karen Drucker and Kate Munger brought an instant tears to Maire’s eyes as well all in attendance. That song was from the Afterlife Awareness Conference ceremony that we had attended with Maire (http://embraceofaging.com/Dying/2013-06-21.html). Another song that had a strong life message and was extremely touching was Jill’s own “Live like there’s no tomorrow.” The mood would be uplifted from there with a few catching songs that had everyone signing along, especially Garth Brooks’ “I’ve got friends in low places,” All in all it was a wonderful gathering for everyone there.

A big “thank you” to Jill Jack for performing a few songs for everyone and helping make the night memorable. Thank you to Dr. Leja for continuing to make a positive impact in Maire’s life. Thank you to Maire for letting us be there with her throughout this journey. It has been and continues to be an honor.