This week Lucy and I lost a wonderful friend. To Lucy, who is an only child, Pam was her sister and they were best friends from the cradle, growing up next door to each other in Cambridge. This is a photo of Lucy and Pam in 2011.
For me, Pam was one of my roommates in college, and then my sister-in-law. She battled against Alzheimer’s for a very long time, never losing her sense of humor and laughter until the last year. As her “roomies,” we took Pam to lunch every other month for the past six years.
She loved the stories of our past and of our ridiculous apartment with one bedroom and four girls. Her son produced a documentary about her journey through this terrible disease called “The Genius of Marian”.
This photo provided by PBS shows Banker White, left, and his mother, Pam White, in a scene from the documentary film, “The Genius of Marian,” aired Sept. 8 on PBS’ “POV” independent non-fiction film showcase. Banker White returned to his Massachusetts family home in 2009 to be a good son to his 61-year-old mother, newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. But it was White’s skill as a filmmaker that allowed him to do even more: enrich his mom’s life; document family history and his father’s devotion, and illustrate the disease’s toll. (AP Photo/PBS, Banker White)
The film is available through Netflix. We invite you to watch it, and, although it is sad, it is also beautiful, as it is her son behind the camera. Her obituary is in the Boston Globe:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/bostonglobe/obituary.aspx?n=pamela-steele-white&pid=180249418.f02nQRvK.dpuf
If we have learned anything from the experience of this journey with Pam, it is that life is precious and we need to embrace laughter and friends and family and life. Take nothing for granted and, as we move into the fourth quarter of our lives, take joy in simple things like our animals, beautiful flowers, and a sunny summer’s day.
Lucy and Claudia
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