Category Archives: Relationships & Family

Her name was Georgie Dressel Anderson.  She was one of the kindest, strongest and bravest women I have ever met.  She was my friend Cori’s mother.  She was the mother of Kristi, Eddie and Matthew too.  She was the wife of Ed, aunt of many, sister of Katie and a grandmother to Tyler, Merri and Dylan.  I only knew her for four short years, but her years made a big impression on me.

Georgie was a cancer survivor, and a proud one at that!  But what she didn’t let on to many was that the radiation treatment that put her cancer in remission, left her with burned insides. She lived in pain and discomfort every day, but she rarely let you see it.  She was strong, and she fought hard. She didn’t give up.

Last year, she assembled a team of people to walk the Living Well 5K Bridge Walk.  I was honored to be on her team.  We were called Georgie’s Girls & Guys.  We walked to celebrate cancer survivors, of which my own mother is one, and to raise money for a facility that she loved.  This year Georgie’s Girls & Guys will walk again, and we will walk in her honor.

At last year’s walk, she and I walked at least 1 of the miles together.  We got to talk.  She congratulated me on my sobriety and reminded me that it is a gift and to hold it dear.  She thanked me for things she thought I did well.  She told me stories about her kids and her grandkids.  She smiled and laughed.  She walked in pain.  She finished in pain, but she didn’t give up.  I will miss her this year.

One winter’s morning Cori called me while I was on my run.  I was in a beautiful park and I stopped by the creek to listen to Cori.  Through her tears she told me that Georgie was ready to let go.  Her body was failing, and failing bad.  She knew it was just too broken to hold on to.  She did not give up.  She had to let go, and she did.

I often run through that park, and I always stop and talk to Georgie.  I can feel her there.  I pray and I listen.  One particular day I knew Cori was really struggling, and so was I.  My life was headed in a direction I did not recognize, and I was scared.  So I went running because that is what I do when I don’t know what to do.  And before I knew it, that run took me right to that park.  So I stopped at the creek and asked Georgie for help.  I heard two simple words “let go”.   The same lesson she had taught me at the beginning, she was teaching again.   I heard her spirit say it’s not giving up, it’s letting go.   I cried and I let go.  “Tell Cori to let go”.

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thank you Georgie for sharing your life well lived.

With love and prayers to the Anderson family,

Kathleen (she never called me Fee )

If you are interested in supporting Georgie’s Girls & Guys click here. Come and walk with us!