A friend like family.
Nov. 15th, 2005 11:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
navygreenA very special person passed away. Janet has been a friend of my family's since August 1994. Our family even lived with her in her home - which she very selflessly opened up to us (and it's a big change to add five people and five cats to your life when you're used to living alone) - for a year and a half in West Virginia while my parents were trying to buy a house.
Janet had so much faith, yet she had such a hard life, such a rough road during her time. She'd had Hodgkin's disease for many, many years, but she didn't let it keep her down. She was so frail and thin, but we never let that stop us from hugging her, even though she first had tried to keep emotion at arms' length. She knew me before
Philip, before any other person in West Virginia, actually. She met all of my boyfriends, and she welcomed them to her home just as she did our family. She fell in love with our cats - she even gave one a special nickname, and it stuck.
She came to our wedding, and she loved our boys like her own nieces and nephews. She kept a framed photo of our wedding on her mantle, and she always had the latest pictures of the boys in frames as well. She couldn't email or write much (though she used voice software for what she did do), but I would hear from her every few months, and I always continued to send her pictures, letters and emails as often as I could.
She loved to collect Christmas villages and houses, and she lived a simple life. Her dad died years ago, and her mother moved in with her to help her in her daily routines. Janet battled cancer as well as Hodgkin's, and though she went into remission once, she lost all function in her arms due to the two diseases. In the last year or so, the cancer came back and spread to her bones this time, and eventually succeeded in killing her.
She was in an intensive care unit for the last four weeks of her life, grappling to overcome a fluid build-up that was slowly suffocating her. She lost, and it makes me just so sad. For someone so wonderful - someone who'd already lived such a hard life - I only had hoped that when her time came, her death would be painless and quick... and it was anything but.
Philip's mom called me on my birthday. After wishing me a happy day, she had to tell me the news. She'd read Janet's obituary in the local newspaper (though Janet had moved away shortly after we left West Virginia), and she wanted to make sure I knew. I didn't, and I was so sad to hear the news. What made it even worse was that she had died on Oct. 23rd - exactly three weeks prior, but no one had even tried to contact my family yet. I couldn't have made it in time, but my family in Virginia (where Janet lived then) would definitely have been there. Not only that, but my mother would have been at Janet's side in the hospital... if we'd only just known.
*Jack just came in and gave me a hug because he sees that I'm crying*
Janet didn't like people to feel sorry for her, and she hated to be pitied. She never wanted other people to be upset, and I'm sure that's why she didn't let us know it was the end. Still, I loved her and so did my family, and we wish we'd had one more chance to tell her that.
Janet Jean Lozar
Janet had so much faith, yet she had such a hard life, such a rough road during her time. She'd had Hodgkin's disease for many, many years, but she didn't let it keep her down. She was so frail and thin, but we never let that stop us from hugging her, even though she first had tried to keep emotion at arms' length. She knew me before
Philip, before any other person in West Virginia, actually. She met all of my boyfriends, and she welcomed them to her home just as she did our family. She fell in love with our cats - she even gave one a special nickname, and it stuck.She came to our wedding, and she loved our boys like her own nieces and nephews. She kept a framed photo of our wedding on her mantle, and she always had the latest pictures of the boys in frames as well. She couldn't email or write much (though she used voice software for what she did do), but I would hear from her every few months, and I always continued to send her pictures, letters and emails as often as I could.
She loved to collect Christmas villages and houses, and she lived a simple life. Her dad died years ago, and her mother moved in with her to help her in her daily routines. Janet battled cancer as well as Hodgkin's, and though she went into remission once, she lost all function in her arms due to the two diseases. In the last year or so, the cancer came back and spread to her bones this time, and eventually succeeded in killing her.
She was in an intensive care unit for the last four weeks of her life, grappling to overcome a fluid build-up that was slowly suffocating her. She lost, and it makes me just so sad. For someone so wonderful - someone who'd already lived such a hard life - I only had hoped that when her time came, her death would be painless and quick... and it was anything but.
Philip's mom called me on my birthday. After wishing me a happy day, she had to tell me the news. She'd read Janet's obituary in the local newspaper (though Janet had moved away shortly after we left West Virginia), and she wanted to make sure I knew. I didn't, and I was so sad to hear the news. What made it even worse was that she had died on Oct. 23rd - exactly three weeks prior, but no one had even tried to contact my family yet. I couldn't have made it in time, but my family in Virginia (where Janet lived then) would definitely have been there. Not only that, but my mother would have been at Janet's side in the hospital... if we'd only just known.
*Jack just came in and gave me a hug because he sees that I'm crying*
Janet didn't like people to feel sorry for her, and she hated to be pitied. She never wanted other people to be upset, and I'm sure that's why she didn't let us know it was the end. Still, I loved her and so did my family, and we wish we'd had one more chance to tell her that.
(53) Dr. Janet Jean Lozar of Manassas, Virginia, died Sunday, October 23, 2005 at Washington Hospital, Washington, D.C. Dr. Lozar, a former resident of Bridgeport was formerly a professor of Salem-Teikyo University in the sports medicine program, and was a member of Bridgeport Presbyterian Church, where she sang in the choir. Dr. Lozar was a member of the Manassas Presbyterian Church, where she was active in the Stephen ministry. She was a professor at George Mason University, Prince William campus. She was preceded in death by her father, Frank Lozar. Survivors include her mother, Rowena of Manassas, one sister and one brother.
Services were held at Manassas Presbyterian Church. Interment will be at the convenience of the family.
Janet Jean Lozar
