Going to miss Winn Ann Simser

Part of the personal interaction experience of having cancer is meeting and talking to other people fighting this dreaded disease.  Last year, I found out that my former New Richland neighbor, Winn Ann Simser, had the same kind of bladder cancer as I have.  It was news that made me mad, because Winn Ann is one of the best people you will ever find.  I didn't want her to have to endure the pain of fighting this disease, but she did it well.

I went to visit Winn Ann and Jim in Fairmont last year to see how she was doing after having surgery that took out her cancerous bladder and created a new one for her. I cried when I walked into her house, because it really hits you hard to see someone you love going through the same thing.  We had a great visit, she never complained and was so supportive of me.  I shed some tears when I left her that day as well. When I talked to her a few months later and she was having trouble with the new bladder, she never complained.  She took it with her normal grace and kindness.  At the end of the call she was again very supportive to me.  

Winn Ann and I shared a great faith in God and the power of prayer.  She talked to me about how she could feel the prayers that were offered up to God on her behalf and how much comfort she felt from those prayers.  I replied that I experience those same feelings from prayers and that when people ask how they can help me, my reply is to pray for me.  All the years we lived next door to each other we never talked about our faith. But, when you get diagnosed with cancer, it is that faith that gets you through the day and it is that faith that binds you closer together and gives you the hope and assurance that in the end it is going to be okay.  Phil 1:21, For to me to live is Christ, and to die gain.

My family loved having Winn Ann, Jim, and their four sons, Bill, Mike, Mark and Dave living next door.  Winn Ann and Jim did a great job of parenting four rambunctious boys. Jim had a MN High School Hall of Fame coaching career, but was a better husband than he was a coach.  Visiting with Jim last summer really taught that cancer hits both the husband and wife.  His phrase of "when we were diagnosed" was something I had heard from other husbands who had wife's with cancer.  He taught me to be just as concerned for Nancy as she is for me.  When the Bible says, "that two shall become one", that it is in everything you experience in married life.  Seeing pictures of Winn Ann with Jim in a hospital gown during their 50th wedding anniversary showed me again of what a great couple that they were.  I'm certain if was a great comfort to Winn Ann to have Jim by her side through her battle and holding her hand as she passed on to her next life.

I cried again today as I found out that Winn Ann has passed.  I'm going to miss Winn Ann.  I'll miss having her to talk to about what it is like fighting cancer.  I will miss talking to her about prayer.  But, I look forward to seeing her again one day.