Kenmore mom died of lymphoma at 55

When Meg Reid died of lymphoma in January, her daughter, Janie, couldn’t have asked for a stronger, more caring group of friends to provide comfort.

“Meg was the kind of person who everybody loved, and so she was considered the cool mom on the block,” said Janie’s pal, and Kenmore Junior High classmate, Victoria Robinson. Joined by fellow ninth-grader Katie Skurski at Tully’s in Kenmore one afternoon last week, the three 15-year-olds laugh a little.

“We all were really hurt by her loss,” Robinson added, as the girls shift into quiet mode.

Robinson knew that Janie not only needed someone to be with after Meg (pictured at right) died at age 55, but she took their relationship a step further by bringing the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life event into the picture.

“I know Tory has done this in the past with other teams, but this year she approached me and said, ‘How about we dedicate it to your mom? Because that would be a really cool idea,’” said Janie, noting that along with 23 other Kenmore Junior High ninth-grade girls, they’ve formed two teams — Meg’s Minions 1 and 2 — to participate in the May 21-22 event at Skyview Junior High in Bothell. The 24-hour event features teams walking or running around the track.

Since January, the teams have raised more than $8,000 for the American Cancer Society through a garage sale and donations from friends, families and community members. Janie has raised more than $1,000 herself.

“If I hadn’t had a cause like this, it would be a lot harder to go through — a loss like this,” Janie said. “But having this amount of girls and this amount of money raised, it’s living through my mom’s voice even though she’s not here anymore. It’s really an amazing feat to raise this amount of money.”

Janie said that Meg would love what the Kenmore Junior High students are doing, and Skurski added that they’re pulling the school together, as well, by discussing their fight against cancer with classmates, administrators and teachers.

Skurski said the Minions sometimes wear pink sunglasses for spirit days in honor of Janie’s mom, who had a similar pair of sunglasses that she always pushed up on the top of her head. She feels that it unifies all of them at school.

“We know that we’re missing her, but we’re doing something to keep going and to help other families, who may be in a similar boat as me — so that no one has to go through the type of pain that I’ve gone through and trying to make it a better world for everyone,” Janie said.

Added Skurski: “Everyone knows cancer’s out there, but no one thinks it’s going to touch your life. You think, ‘You know what? I’m healthy, I’m fine, it’s not going to touch my life.’ Until it happens, and then it hits you — and it hits you hard. And once it hits you, you look at everything differently.”

Recently, Skurski reached her 10-year cancer-free month — she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia right before she turned 3. “When we found out about Janie’s mom, it kind of hit home with me,” she said.

Meg has always been a standout mom in the girls’ minds, from when she volunteered at school, mentored and tutored students, attended their soccer games and baked cookies at sleepovers. When they heard Meg had cancer, Robinson said they were obviously worried, but assumed that she’d get better — because Meg was a fighter.

Janie noted that her mom was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 15 years ago and battled through the pain with a smile on her face. During last October and November, Meg experienced excruciating back pain and she discovered that her L-5 vertebrae had been fractured, due to the lymphoma tumor on her back, which was later discovered. Meg had already had surgery 10 years earlier on her L-1 vertebrae.

“If you knew Meg, she was one of the strongest people you knew, who’d kind of suck it all up and go through it,” said Janie, adding that when she died, “we just kind of needed something else to fight for.”

Times are tough for everybody, Skurski said, and she thinks about Meg’s positive attitude when she feels tired and doesn’t want to rise from her bed to attend school some mornings. She tosses off the blankets and embraces the day with Meg in mind.

Although she’s participated in Relay for Life before, Robinson said the she hopes to make this year’s Meg Minions-flavored event more memorable than ever.

“The whole event is really upbeat, and there’s a live band and everyone’s there for one purpose and everyone’s friendly to one another,” Robinson said. “During the luminaria service, it’s the solemn part and they light a bunch of candles and you won’t see a pair of dry eyes anywhere… it’s very community building and inspiring.”

Janie is not only looking forward to honoring Meg at the event, but she keeps her mom’s spirit alive each time she walks out the door in the morning.

“She put on a good face for everyone despite her hurting. Every day, she reached out to everyone. You knew when Meg would walk in the room, she’d come up and approach anyone and be like, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’” Janie said. “She was a really cool person and I try to be like her every day, because without Meg in the world it wouldn’t be very fun.”