A few of Sylvia's emails to me--inspired by Maray

[Dan Murphy]

When Maray posted a few emails she had with Sylvia yesterday, they sounded so familiar in 'tone', caring and thanks. I thought I would share a few here also, so you may see inside the soul of this beautiful lady.

The first email that I have from Sylvia, Jan 30, 2000, after her return from WDW. Note, at the time, I was Mr to her, LOL That would change.

Mr Dan Murphy,

This is Sylvia Murray.

I just want to express my sincere gratitude and thanks for all that you
and the other members of this board have done for me and Nick to make
our Disney Vacation the on dreams are made of!!
Of course we used the autograph book that was included to
get all the characters' signatures. First I took a picture of the
beautiful basket..thank you for thinking of us like that. It was very
much appreciated.

We had a wonderful time and did all the rides, attractions and saw the
beautiful productions!! We really enjoyed Animal Kingdom and
Fantasmic!!
The grounds aand hotel was absolutely spotless and the cast memebers
were all wonderful and accomodating!!
It truly is the most beautiful place on earth!!
The buildings, colors, and architecture at Animal Kingdom were
breathtaking!!

We truly had the most fantastic time and thanks to people like you, it
was even more special. Our memories will be with us forever.
I look forwrad to sharing some of my experiences with people who post on
the board!!

Thank you again so much for your part in making this the best time I
ever had!!

Sylvia and Nick XXOOXX

Still Mr here, LOL. A bit later.

Oh yes we for sure will keep in touch with Marilyn. I am all set to send
her an email soon. She is a wonderful person, you are right.
Yes i remember reading that your wife is a survivor too. I hope all is
well with her.
I start a round of chemo again next week. Thats why this trip was so
important for me to take with Nick. I was originally diagnosed with
breast cancer at the age of 36 in July 98. After 6 months of chemo, 7
weeks of radiation and surgery I was hoping I had it beat, but now a
recurrence..
Hopefully I will beat it this time around!!!!!!!

I do plan on staying in the Disney loop. In fact I am going to post a
trip report today!!
Thank you again, Mr Murphy, for the thoughts and well wishes. Your
caring and thoughtfullness will always be remembered!!!!!

Sylvia

A week later

Hi Dan,

Thank you so much, you sure did play a big part in making my trip
magical, and it means so much to me. I know we will always have those
memories.
All is going well with me so far, I am awaiting results of Wednesdays
biopsy to see what type of chemo they will be puuting me on.
The stitches that they had to put in my chest are very itchy.
I also had to go to the Cancer Center in London, Ontario on thursday, to
get some help for my lymphedema. Lymphedema was caused by my lymph node
dissection in April 99. It has caused lymph fluid to collect in my left
arm and made it very swollen looking. They say that the radiation also
impaired my lymph system on that side. I have to have my arm wrapped
from shoulder to fingers by tensor bandages for 24 hours per day for the
next 6 weeks, and then a custom made"sleeve" that I will have to wear
every day for life.... yuck!! And I do love to wear tank tops in the
summer, so it wont look so good...(oh well)

Anyways, I will keep you posted.

By the way, how is your wife, Marie?? Is she still scared sometimes??

Thanks for all your encouragement and kind words!!!
You are very special!!

Sylvia

About 10 days later. She took everything painful in stride. Sylvia dealt with her cards so bravely

Hi Dan,
This is Sylvia. Hope all is going well there.
Everything is okay here. Tomorrow I start chemotherapy. It will be a
drug called Taxol. And yes, within 2 weeks my hair will be gone..
(again!)
Oh well...just another thing to go through..I will keep you posted.
Have you heard from Marilyn yet??
Is it just me or is The DIS still down??

Please say hi to Marie for me!!

Thanks,

Sylvia (aka NicksMom)

I enjoyed hearing from her so much. This was early March, 2000

Hey there, Dan!!!
I was just gonna settle down to write some emails today, and you were #1
on my list!!
Thank you for the card and words of encouragement, so nice and
thoughtful!! I also received an email from Marilyn today and I have to
write her back as well. I am glad I heard from her!
I also wanted to let you know that the post you made in my chemo trip
report was so touching, you had me crying before I left for work this
morning, not sad tears, but happy tears!! It was so nice!
I really appreciate all of this!!
I hope you dont mind that I "stole" your clip-art..it was so "funky", I
had to have it!! LOL.
How do I put 2 images side-by-side?? When I put them in, they are one on
top of the other and take up too much space!!! LOL..(duh) I am slowly
getting the haNG OF THIS. I will be going to a Canadian DIS meet at the
Rainforest Cafe on April 16th. webmaster Adam, CathyCanada and others
will be there. Should be fun!!
Yes, It really is cool about my friend, Karen. She is very dedicated
and loves her dogs. I hope she finishes, she has been training real
hard!!

Here is a link to her website.... you can read about her preparation!!

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2649/

Please say hello to Marie and give her big gentle hugs from me.
Thank you again, Dan!! It means so much to me knowing that you are
behind me!!
Any info on my clipart I would greatly appreciate..LOL, thanks!!

Sylvia

Here is a reply to an email that Marie (below with arrow marks and one of Marie's VERY few emails, LOL) sent to Sylvia. Two ladies with a common bond.

Marie,
Please forgive me for not replying sooner. Yes, i did receive your note
last week. I am so glad that you replied. I sure liked looking at the
family pictures that you have posted of your WDW trip. Your family
looks wonderful, and your daughter is absolutely beautiful!!
I really am glad to see you on the DIS boards..they have been a great
source of comfort to me, with all the well-wishers and inspiration. It
is really nice. Helps me through some icky times!!
Well so far so good with my chemo... Thursday will be my second
treatment. i know I will be tired for a few days after that, but a good
excuse to be lazy!!

The only thing the weather is so beautiful, I guess Ill just have to
rest outside during the day..

take care, Marie...hope to hear from you again!!

Sylvia


> Dan Murphy wrote: (actually Marie)
>
> Sylvia,
>
> Thank you for your notes of welcome. Yes, we do have a common bond.
> I will always keep you in my thoughts and prayers as you go through
> your chemotherapy. I know it is not easy, but it sounds like you are
> a 'fighter.' I am confident that you will get through this difficult
> time and will soon be on the road to recovery.
>
> If you ever want to send me a private note, just use Dan's email since
> I don't have one as yet. He will make sure I get it. Take care.
>
> Marie

Welcome to the world of clipart, Sylvia, LOL She was so funny with this. We went around and around for days, LOL. Later in March, 2000

I am so sorry. I have gone and messed with a good thing!! *LOL*
And here you are trying to help me. It must be so frustarting for you,
and I apologize now. I went back and fooled around with it a bit more
last night, and I think I got it.
Yes I just wanted the "Dancin" on my name, the rest just regular font.
I have tweaked it and got it right now. The only thing it still does is
have the funny font where it says:
(This message has been editted by NicksMom.......) but y'know what??
LOL, I can live with that!!! And if Alex is gonna squelch the siggies,
well then...
I do want to thank you so much for all the time and effort you have put
into helping everyone with clip art and stuff..The clip art I actually
caught on to right away, by following your instructions in one of the
posts to the DIS community.
I really want to thank you for posting the instructions for the clip
art, because it has made me seem like a whiz now. All of the guys on
Dans online gaming team (about 18 ) and let me tell you, they are
geniuses when it comes to "technical" computer stuff, like software,
installings, getting rid of viruses, IPs, registries, Rcon, config
files, and ...... etc, etc...\
Well the one guy on the team who lives in Florida he put a clan website
up and included a message board, well of course, the first thing I do
for Dan when the board went up this week, was insert a "clip art" for
him in a post, and I made it into a permanent signature.
Well all night last night I had all the guys from his clan calling me on
ICQ and I had to step each one through getting clip art up!!!
Made me feel good (**Sylvia flexes her puny muscles***) that I was able
to show these guys some things!!!
But I owe it to you, for showing me in the first place!!!!

Anyways, thanks for helping me with the font, but I am done with it
now..LOL.

Hope all is going well in your neck-of-the -woods!!
Say hi to Marie!!!

Thanks again..... {{HUGZ}}

Sylvia

Here is late April, 2000, always upbeat, smiling.

Blah, Dan...LOL
You must have been reading my mind. I was gonna email you and YA BEAT
ME TO IT!!! ((((aaarrgggghhhh))))) heheheheh
I am doing just great. There is so much i have meant to ask you/tell
you about the last few days, but so little time....
I barely have time to check into the boards for maintenance every day..
i wanted to tell you what a lovely memory you portrayed on that thread
about where you would go to have a little "privacy" at WDW.
I loved your story about you watching your daughter play on the beach
like a kid again. What a wonderful analogy/ memory. It must have been
very special to you, and something i am sure you will always remember.

Also, would you mind if i changed my ressies at the Animal Kingdom for
the same time you are there in 2001?? It wont be the whole same time,
maybe only a couple of days..can't afford any longer, so we will move to
the AllStar Movies for the last few days.

ALSO (LOL) a memeber of the DIS named DisneyDaniel emailed me and asked
if we could do a STATE OF THE WEEK feature, but have Canada instead?
He wanted to do a province of the week on the Canadain boards, but
frankly there just aren't enough provinces to warrant that, and i feel
that we wouldnt get seen, being stuck in the Northern board.. LOL
all freezing and fighting off moose all on our lonesome...

I am doing my own version of the happy dance here because next week I
have treatment 4...woohoo..more than halfway through!!!!

Anyways, talk to ya soon, my friend!!
Thank you for the email..


Sylvia

Here she talks of doing a 'chemo' trip report. Always taking life in stride.

What a wonderful surprise. Tghanks for the card. I just am posting an
update..kind of a chemo trip report on the board.
Thanks to you for thinking of me. You are special.

Sylvia

Things did get to her once in awhile, though very seldom. She was almost always upbeat. Here is one of her 'down' moments mid last year.

Hi Dan....maybe it was just me feeling a little "blue" yesterday.
i am feeling better now. Just a "me" thing, I guess!!
Feeling a little out of touch!!




Sylvia

dmurphy@voyager.net wrote:
>
> Sylvia, tell me what your concern is in your post. You sound so
> unclear and/or sad.. Please tell me. OK?
>
> Hugs
> Dan

There are others, but this I thought would give you a little sense of Sylvia, the woman. Around mid last year, we started to mostly communicate via ICQ, and later in the year, via phone. I only regret never going there to visit in person.

As the divine order says death is part of life, I do have faith that I will someday get to meet this wonderful lady, Sylvia.

 

[amid chaos]

Thanks for sharing Dan. tears again.

 

[Boots]

Thank you for sharing with us.

 

[skuttle]

Thanks, Dan.

 

[snoopy]

Oh, Dan. This is so tough looking at her words like this. Unfortunately, I clean out my email box every so often, and have deleted all but one of Sylvia's emails to me. I'd like to share it with you all if I may. This was in response to a little gift I sent Sylvia in March:

From: murray <otter77@home.com> Save Address
Date: Mon, 26 Mar 2001 10:17:47 -0800
To: snoopy@mail.wdwinfo.com
Subject: Re: Package

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JUDI !!!!!!!

I just received the package and I cant begin to explain my excitement and thankfullness.
I absolutely adore Eeyore..the Easter beanie and the snow globe are so precious. I have them sitting here on my PC table right now, definitely brightening the room and spreading their joy!!!
and the beautiful fragrances of the YANKEE candles are spreading thru the room too.

Snoops, I just want to say that I really appreciate the words of comfort and encouragement I have received from you throughout all of this, especially knowing you are battling your own private little hell.

I have been talking to Dan alot recently and he has been slowly convincing me to really try hard to come to the May meet. I really, really want to, but am slightly reluctant because I will have just finished chemo at that time, and not sure how I will feel then. I am so
torn, because I really want to meet especially you and Dan in person and give you all a big special hug for just being there!! =)

We shall see......

In the meantime, thank you again so much for the wonderful little gifts that you sent to me. They will be treasured always.

You are a special lady, Judi.

Sylvia


Ah, I'm crying. Life is so hard. I find it so inspiring that she ALWAYS, in every contact she ever had with me, inquiried about my health, which is shaky at times, but certainly not to the degree that she suffered. Just a testimony to the caring and kind person she was.

Love you Syl!

 

[huckster]

thankyou

 

[TimNDansMom]

Thank you Dan and Judi for letting us all get to know Sylvia a little better. I wish she could have made it to our April 8th DIS meet, I would have loved to have met such a lovely person!

 

[Buckalew]

These are way too hard for me to read...

 

[December99]

Thanks for sharing Dan she was a great lady!!! I so remember when her friend Karen was in the dog sled races. She posted almost every day or every other day to let us know how Karen was doing...that was so very cool!!!!

 

[perndwler]

Thank you.

 

[BambiTamby]

I will NEVER delete her emails from my box!!!

{{{Hugs}}}}} to you, Dan!!!

Hard to read these without crying!

 

[snoopy]

Just to clarify, BT, I didn't delete her emails from my box specifically. Just deleted the whole box, unfortunately. Luckily I still had one left. I'll treasure it always, in fact, I've saved it to my hard drive and printed it out for keepsake.

 

[tiggerlover]

Thank you all for sharing a little bit of Sylvia with us all. I really need to keep a box of tissues near the PC!

 

[Mamu]

Dan thanks for sharing some of you private e-mails. The pictures, the e-mails and all the wonderful testaments. Helps to know and understand who Sylvia was. She has left a wonderful impression on me. I only wish I could have meet her. A loving, caring mother and friend.

Why is it we care so much about people we have never meet? There is a very strong bond formed here on the Dis. I can understand why you try to go to so many Dis meets.

What a wonderful friend to all of our Dis family you are.

 

[BambiTamby]

Wasn't reffering directly at ya, girlfriend!

And the hard drive thingie for keepsakes is a wonderful idea!

Sorry if I offended you!
I didn't mean to!

 

[Felicia]

Thank you for sharing your personal emails with us here. I never got to know Sylvia personally, but have posted to/from her. I am very sad about her passing though,as many of us here are.

 

[#1 Disney Fan]

Thank you Dan, and Snoopy, for posting these touching e-mails. They were very nice, and brought tears to my eyes when I read them.

 

[cotye]

Thank you for sharing all of these mails. It's so wonderful to get to know Sylvia a little bit better.

 

[Dan Murphy]

Just bumping up for those who may have missed last week's news regarding our friend, Sylvia, and are logging in for the first time in a few days here on Monday morning. Keep her in your prayers.

 

[Patricia]

I have just been reading the Sylvia memories and just had to say how wonderful and bittersweet it is to read how much you all loved her. I didn't come to the Community Board in time to know Sylvia, and wondered for awhile how she passed. Seeing her Memorial made it all too real for me. This year, my very close friend and then my sister were both diagnosed with breast cancer. My friend has just finished her treatment ( the same as Sylvia's) and my sister had only a masectomy as her cancer was in a very early stage. She is back to playing softball and is living life. I know they are doing ok, but there will always be a fear I cannot describe. Reading the emails to Dan made Sylvia real to me and I will think of her each time I look at my friend and my sister. Nick is in my prayers. Thanks for sharing all of you who loved her.