The Light shines on

Betsy Shanahan

Betsy’s sister writes:  Betsy’s pain and struggle to breath are over. She was transfered to Hospice care on December 8th and apparently she thought there was somewhere else she would rather be because less than 12 hours later at 1:50am she peacefully took her last breath, holding the hand of a hospice nurse early Friday morning.  It was such a shock to all of us.  She has been freed from her pain and suffering brought on by the Pulmonary Fibrosis and is now at peace.  She is now in a much better place where she breaths in only wonderful, sweet air and is now in the world she has always imagined. I want to thank all my family and friends who have lent me their ears, shoulders and arms to help me through these last couple months. I love you all! There are no words that can ever thank you for your kindness and friendship. To all of Betsy’s friends who have left such wonderful messages on her Facebook page, we will have a celebration of her life sometime after the first of the year. Please check her Facebook page in early January for details.

Thank you, Gina Shanahan Waterhouse

From Andrea:  The End of Death As We Know It
Her Perception Upon Dying

From Andrea:  One of the last things Betsy shared with us on Facebook was this:

7 Life Lessons You Can Learn From ‘Star Trek’ by David Borgenicht

I am a closet Trekkie. My love of  Star Trek has lasted this long because of what I have learned from my friends on the Enterprise over the years.   I’ve learned dozens of life skills, lessons and even values from the iconic show.  There are seven life lessons I learned from “Star Trek” that I take with me to this day. These are lessons I hope to pass along to my own children someday–but for now, I will share them here.

1. The best way to travel is to boldly go where no one has gone before. This is true for vacations, for self-exploration, for life itself. If you want your days filled with adventure, laughter, love, learning and the occasional mind-meld, follow this route.

2.  The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few–or the one. Sometimes you must make great sacrifices for the greater good. And, like the Genesis device, it will all come back around.

3.  Expressing your emotions is a healthy thing. Sure, McCoy seemed angry all the time when exclaiming, “Dammit, Jim! I’m a doctor not a mechanic/bricklayer/soothsayer,” but he knew that by expressing his anger and frustration it wouldn’t get the best of him and he could then perform at his peak capacity.

4.  When estimating how long a job will take, overestimate–and when you do better your captain will always be impressed. Replace the word “captain” with “teacher” or “mom/dad” and you’ll see what I mean. Sure, Mr. Scott might have been telling the truth–maybe it would take six hours to get the warp engines back online in the heat of the battle. Or maybe he was padding things so he looked good. Either way, when the engines did come back on line, everyone was happy.

5.  Wearing red makes you a target. This is true of cars, dresses and, most especially, shirts. Red gets you noticed–which is good if you want to be noticed, bad if you don’t want to end up vaporized.

6. When you don’t know what to say, pause. It will give you the time to figure it out. Or at the very least, you’ll sound like you’re being thoughtful. “But….Spock…..why?”

7.  The most powerful force in the universe is friendship. It’s more powerful than phasers, photon torpedos, even more powerful than the force itself. With friends, you can accomplish any task, escape any perilous situation, defeat any enemy–and you get to laugh together when it’s all over.