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Sometimes difficult life experiences end up making us work harder for the things we believe in.

My friend Jane with me in Whistler at the 2010 Paralympic Games

Jane always had a remarkable way of saying things we might not want to hear – delivered with a twinkle in her eye but which still deliver a message like, “smarten up kiddo.”

I could point to numerous examples where Jane Knox’s gentle wise words were well worth stopping to listen to, but I’m just going to share her final message to me.

On Sunday night, I didn’t sleep too well. Some deadlines were weighing on my mind – substantial ones, although I now know I was feeling more stress than was warranted. Jane’s gentle rebuff came Monday morning when I got the call telling me my dear friend Jane had passed on after a gracious life journey through a very tough road. What a paradigm shift that was.

This week, my work has meant just a little more to me because Jane has reminded me of why the causes I care about are so important. My blog today is a departure from what I’ve written before, so if you don’t want your perspective challenged, stop reading now.

A blog entry Jane wrote in the findinghope.org blog in 2009 was passed on to me by Anne P and speaks volumes about what matters in life.

“Living and working with breast cancer – Jane shares her story”

This week, it’s as if Jane walked through my door as she often did at the office to say good-bye, pauses and says, “how are you doing, kiddo? Focus on what matters!” That’s what she was like, always caring for others, and ever reminding us not to get bogged down in stress but to focus on what’s important.

Jane’s courage, selflessness, and positive attitude, sprinkled with humour will always remain with us. Simply put, Jane is an inspiration to keep going – to work hard for causes we believe in. And that’s what she practiced herself – whether for causes like cancer that ultimately took her life, or in making a difference in the lives of sick kids as she did in the past year.

Thank you, Jane! You mean so much to all of us and we’ll never forget you.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 at 11:08 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.