Once in a while, news comes out of nowhere to shock you.
That happened to me just 15 minutes or so. It isn’t that the news itself was so shocking, but the timing sure was.
Less than two months ago, an old friend who I hadn’t seen in person for 50 years, messaged me on Facebook to tell me she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. I got an update a month or so ago. She told me her doctor had said it apparently hadn’t spread beyond the pancreas.
That was good news, such as it was. Nobody really beats pancreatic cancer, which is one of the really bad ones, but good news of a sort meant she might possibly have a good year or maybe two left.
At any rate, I messaged her a couple of days ago to ask for an update.
The return late this afternoon wasn’t from my friend. It was from one of her sisters, someone I never met.
The message said she had died Saturday.
My friend Christine Worth Miller, left, in 2014
Not knowing what to say, I’m going to include the announcement I received from her siblings.
This is a message from Barbara, Monica, and Mark – the siblings of Christine Worth Miller.
In early August, Chris was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She had hoped for surgery or chemotherapy
intervention, but sadly Chris was rarely without abdominal pain and was hospitalized many times in the past two
months. Chris was in the hospital on September 23 when she received the news that her body was giving up the
fight. Chris agreed to accept hospice care, and the main goal was to get relief from her pain. Monica and Barbara
were with her when she made the hospice care decision, and they remained with her at the hospital throughout the
week. Chris’s condition rapidly deteriorated, but pain was relieved at last. Chris passed away peacefully at the
hospital on Saturday morning, September 28, 2024.
During Chris’s last days, Monica and Barbara were always by her side. Her son Jeff was with her as well. We were
able to talk with Chris and we shared some laughs before she began to slip away. We played music of her time –
Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Woodstock performers – to provide calm. Chris often
recognized a song or two.
The care provided by the staff at Sentara CarePlex Hospital in Hampton, VA was exceptional. The doctors and
nurses advocated in every way for Chris and supported us. The Sentara Hospice Services staff were also wonderful
and continue to provide support.
There will be no formal service for Chris at this time, her preference. However, we encourage you to share your
memories of Chris at her best and brightest – enjoy a laugh about times big and small as we did with her last week.
Our friends and Chris’s friends have asked if Chris has a cause where they could donate in her memory. Chris
didn’t talk about this specifically, but if you knew Chris, you knew that the 2024 presidential race was top of her list
of interests – some of our shared laughter with her was over the crazy campaign stories that would break by the
minute. And the 3 siblings discussed that we each have a nonprofit that means a lot to us and had meaning to
Chris as well. So here are our suggestions for those who would like to donate in memory of Christine Worth Miller:
For Chris: the Harris/Walz Presidential campaign: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/drc-hfp-faq
For Barbara: the Sarasota Cuban Ballet School: https://srqcubanballet.org/donate
Barbara is the Administrative Director of this nonprofit and Chris and Barbara enjoyed attending ballet
performances together in Sarasota.
For Mark: Cat Depot: https://catdepot.org. Mark and Barbara adopted 2 cats from this nonprofit and Chris loved visiting Cat Depot and playing with the cats available for adoption.
For Monica: Project Healthy Minds: https://www.projecthealthyminds.com. This nonprofit works to put mental and physical health on equal footing. It is a group of government, entertainment, social media, art, and corporate leaders working to destigmatize mental health. “We believe that finding mental health services should be as easy as booking a flight or dinner reservation,” and they offer a plan and compelling research to make it happen.