Jackie Oswold is my best friend from college. We met at USC when we were freshmen and joined the same sorority. After college, we lived together at the beach and had all sorts of crazy adventures. After a few years, we each moved away (first me to NYC, then back to LA) and her back to her native San Francisco. The distance didn’t matter to us – we talked and texted every day, and visited each other whenever we could.
Jackie was the first person to visit Madeline after she was born, and when she died, Jackie dropped everything to be with me. She helped organize Madeline’s funeral and reception, was a shoulder to cry on for my family, and was a rock for me. And she did all of this while on chemo, because ten months before Maddie died, Jackie had been diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor.
Not one to take a terminal diagnosis lightly, Jackie threw herself into researching her particular tumor (glioblastoma multiforme). She had brain surgeries and underwent all sorts of different procedures and treatments to keep the tumor at bay. Despite feeling terrible pretty much all the time, Jackie rarely complained. She also worked tirelessly to raise more money for brain tumor research, even though she knew a cure wouldn’t be found in time to save her.
Jackie passed away on August 3rd, 2012. She was only 33 years old. I miss her so much it hurts.
All of my posts about her are here.
You can donate to her National Brain Tumor Foundation fundraising team here.
The beautiful tribute her sister wrote for her can be found here.
