Anathea Gordon

Ruthie, thank you so much for the opportunity to express our thoughts and feelings about Devon. If all the people who knew and loved Devon took the opportunity to share their feelings and memories at “the celebration of her life”, we would be there for hours-laughing and crying. I have been blessed to have known Devon since she was a baby, really. Our mothers met when her older brother Cory and I were newborn infants. My earliest memory of Devon was on a trip my family took to visit her family in Clovis. We were hanging out in their apartment, having dinner one night. She must have been pretty young, because, during the dinner preparation she asked “what’s for ‘zert’ mommy”. Chantal and I still talk about how cute that was.
The next time I remember seeing her was on a trip I took up to Santa Barbara for a visit one weekend, it was before her trip to Europe, we had a fun time hanging out at one of the local bars. It was amazing b/c we had such a great time that weekend. It was as if it had only been a week or so (versus the years it had actually been).

I can remember when I got the news about the cancer diagnosis. I was in total shock! I took a trip to Long Beach w/my mom to visit her in the hospital. I think it was the 1st day after her 1st surgery. I had spoken to her on the phone and had asked her if she liked sushi (which she had). When my mom and I entered the hospital room (she had been out of the room at the time for PT or OT) neither one of us knew what to expect. About 10 min later, she walked in (with minimal assistance) w/her walker w/a HUGE smile on her face. We asked how she was feeling, she said “pretty well”. We dined on sushi and Snapple, and painted her finger nails. It was a good visit.

I came out several times to visit her at her Long Beach place (the apt they moved into after the fire). On one occasion, (after the 2nd surgery), we walked across the street to the restaurant for lunch. I remember asking her how she was feeling-physically. She said “pretty well, my balance is off a bit, but ok”. She always had a smile on her face. In typical-strong willed Devon style-she refused any help offered, and we walked across the street for lunch. I think that was the same visit we hung out and watched “American Idol” on the DVR. She was SO excited about the show, she LOVED it. ; ) (which was fun for me to see b/c I wasn’t all that into it). No matter what she was going through (between the cancer and the apartment issues) her spirits were ALWAYS high. Several times I was able to help her out (at least she was nice enough to say I helped J) with her diagnosis. She would ask me about medication regimens or experimental treatment the doctors were looking at and the results of her frequent lab work. Only once did I ever see the effects of the cancer hit her emotionally. On one of my visits in Long Beach (as she worked on her laptop-getting herself back to work so that she could maintain a level of normalcy and her medical insurance), she spoke with her neurologist, who gave her the results of the most recent MRI. Devon cried for just a bit, and then shook it off.

The last time I saw Devon was about 1.5 months or so ago. I went out to Long Beach for one of our lunches, we went to some “Teriaki place” she said was good. The thing that NEVER ceased to amaze me was how GREAT her memory was-even after several brain surgeries. She directed us directly to the restaurant as I drove and got us back, I (half) joked that her memory was better than mine was, and I didn’t even have an excuse. We had a good time talking about our families and the stresses of life. I still can’t believe she’s gone, I’m going to miss her regular blogs and our lunches, her spirit and her smile and her enthusiasm for life and American Idol.

God Bless.