Re: Celia Salinas, 1969 - 2005

From: tschibasch <tschibasch_at_yahoo.com_at_hypermail.org>
Date: Fri, 07 Jan 2005 02:50:57 -0000

Sorry that last night's message was so short. I was still in shock,
and just wanted to let people know.

Please let me provide some more detail. It is true that Celia suffered
a minor stroke in 2003. At that time, she was seeing a doctor about
dizziness and headaches. The stroke became obvious after the fact,
when she suffered from language impairment. Her recovery was quick,
though she was frustrated as she looked for the right words for the
legal research work she was doing. She told me that her supervisors
and co-workers were very supportive during those weeks. My last
conversation with her was a few months ago. I could not tell that
anything was wrong.

On one Bay Area visit I went to her work. The courthouse was a large
building near downtown San Francisco. She had her own office, covered
wall to wall with books. These were the large print books for people
with less-than-perfect reading vision. Her desk was covered with
papers of hand-written notes and scribbling. There was a large coffee
pot and a few cups on another table near the desk. We walked to a
local Thai restaurant for lunch and then walked around several blocks
back to her work. I had a wonderful time seeing her. Celia was the
same as always -- cheerful and giggling all the time. She seemed very
happy.

As she approached the five-year anniversary at work she was excited
about the recent news of a promotion. She was popular with her
co-workers. She was a hard worker and this was a great career path.
She therefore had every reason to be content with life.

She seemed 100% healthy. To my knowledge she was not taking any
medications. She had excellent medical coverage, and I am sure that
everything was done to save her. It just wasn't possible. She was
already gone by the time the ambulance reached the hospital.

Her family is now making arrangements with organ donors.

John
Received on 2005-01-06 18:51:02