Requiescat in pace, Brittany Jeffers
Ever meet someone once and immediately clicked with them? At Jos’ Memorial Service, a sweet young lady named Meaghan came up to me and said she had met Jos by chance in a supermarket. They instantly connected. They wound up having a few more run-ins, and decided they should actually meet up. Then Hurricane Sandy happened, and their date never happened. But on the strength of those handful of brief meetings, Meaghan felt she had made a good friend (incidentally, so did Jos; she mentioned her the last two times we hung out).
In the last six weeks, I made a similar connection with a bright girl named Brittany Jeffers. We never actually met.I wound up becoming friends with her on Facebook after she wrote an attention grabbing comment on my cousin Ean’s page. He was writing how his sister was sick and in the hospital, and Brittany immediately responded by writing out a surprisingly earnest prayer. I soon found out she was very sick with a rare form of cancer, and was writing to me from a bed in a Maryland hospital room.
When Jos passed, Brittany wrote me with encouraging words. I was struck again by her ability to put aside her own pain and focus on others. I was so moved I asked her if I could interview her. She wrote:
Something is attracting me to you and I don’t even know you yet (Not sexually) but its something in your soul that is just calling my attention towards you. I read your blogs very nice I wouldn’t mind you blogging on me I actually feel honored and can’t wait to begin. Btw stay strong keep your head held high she wouldn’t want to go around being depressed smile if not for you then for her
In the craziness of the last week, I only took a few passing glances at her status updates, but I knew things were getting rough. She wasn’t seeing visitors since her immune system was so diminished, and the harsh chemotherapy had left her continually nauseous and extremely weak. She wrote her own versions of Psalms in those updates, typing out prayers to God for the pain to stop.
About an hour ago, I noticed the onslaught of R.I.P.’s on her wall. My vision immediately blurred with tears. Brittany Nicole Jeffers was just 22.
Please keep her family and all those who love her in prayer, and may God grant her eternal rest.