Today I received a phone call telling me that one of my bellydance troupe sisters died at midnight on Christmas.
Angie had been diagnosed with lung cancer early this year, and she completely withdrew from all of us right after she was diagnosed. She didn’t speak to any of us, wouldn’t return calls or emails, and certainly wouldn’t see any of us. Shortly after her initial diagnosis, we found that the cancer had metastized in her liver and worse, her brain. Although the prognosis wasn’t good, she went through radiation and chemo and actually improved. We still didn’t hear directly from her, but had ways of getting small updates about her condition.
Angie was feeling good and doing well, until suddenly she just wasn’t. Her husband held her for the last six hours of her life, and after she was gone, he made sure to tell our troupe director, who is the one who called me with the news. Services will be in the next few days, and Angie’s husband is making sure that her bellydance gear is part of her memorial, since it was such a defining part of who Angie was. She was such a joyful soul and it was so easy to tell she poured all of that into her dancing, and we were a better troupe because of it.
I think tonight I’ll paint my nails purple, NYC Purple Pizzazz Frost to be exact, from the bottle of nail polish that was part of Angie’s last Christmas gift to all of us for Christmas 2007. Purple is our troupe color, and I think it’s only fitting that we wear it in her honor when we gather to say our goodbyes to her.
I’m going to miss you, lady. I hope Elvis was there to greet you as you moved on.
joyful dancer girl
