| My name is Kristina Sellers. I am writing this just six short days from
the day my mother died from Scleroderma, April 16, 1998. My mother, Anita Canfield, was 51
years old. She was diagnosed with Scleroderma in 1995. I need to write this as a tribute
to her because she and I both found support in this web site. She first noticed that her fingers were turning white and becoming very cold frequently. She also began to notice small red spots appearing on her hands and face. After several months of tests and seeing three doctors she finally had a diagnosis. I remember when she told me she had Scleroderma neither of us had heard of the disease and the doctors told us little about it. I found this web site shortly after her diagnosis. I used to print the stories I found there to help her find support and to talk over with her doctors, the treatments that other people were receiving. We were not very worried. It was just something else that we were going to get through together. My mother has been my best friend, my confidant, and my support for my whole life, but since my parent's divorce in 1984 we became inseparable. As I made my own life for myself by going away to college and eventually marrying, she was always there cheering me on and providing support through the hard times. My mother was an incredible person. She was the strength and support for many many people. She was always there for people to turn to in time of trouble. She was a very true, very loyal friend and would do anything to help someone who was in need. When she was in college she worked as a counselor for women, this was a job that never really ended. She was always there to listen without judgment and could always comfort someone just by her steadiness, strength and love. |
| The woman that I remember as my friend and mother had a great love for
nature. I remember when I was a little girl we used to go for walks in the forest. Along
the way she'd point out wildflowers, trees and shrubs and name them for me. She'd also
tell me about their uses; telling me to taste this one, or showing me how Native Americans
used that one. Nothing in nature, she taught me, was too small or too insignificant to
study and learn from. She had a B.S. in biology and when I went to college I didn't even
think twice about getting my degree in biology also. I'd already had a head start on my
education from the best teacher there was. In 1988 my mother and I decided to make a new life together. So, after I graduated from high school in June we packed up and moved from Wisconsin to the beautiful state of Oregon. Here we both came alive. There is so much beauty and diversity in nature here. You can go from the ocean coasts, to the mountain meadows, to the Columbia Gorge waterfalls, to the high desert in only a four or five hour drive. We used to take trips together to see what new and wondrous place we could find. I remember quietly sitting by a trickling mountain stream or sitting on the sand wondering at the power of the ocean and having heartfelt as well as silly conversations with my mother. I will miss talking to her and hearing her voice and her laughter so much, but I know that when I take walks and see beauty in nature I can take heart in the fact that she is there in spirit. I will hear her voice in my head quietly telling me all about the wildflowers and trees that I see. There is a song sung by Bette Midler called "The Wind Beneath My Wings" from the movie Beaches. My mother was truly the wind beneath my wings. In the words of that song, to you, Mom, I sing: "Thank you, Thank you. Thank God for you, the wind beneath my wings!" Kristina Sellers: Sellers@bendnet.com Back to tribute page.
Copyright © 1998 Kristina Sellers |