Finding Happiness Despite Death
Michele Abbott-Croan's life of kindness
This weekend a really cool lady in our community died of cancer. She’d been a force on our Maine island since she was born here about sixty years ago, and she used her business, a First Express, as a place to bail out so many nonprofits and people trying to do last minute things. She supported the local ASPCA for as long as I can remember with her time, energy, and donations. She was funny. She took no prisoners on her Facebook; she was amazing with swears; and she was a great light in the world. Her friends and family adored her. Her acquaintances did too.
I instantly got teary when I found out she died even though I’m just an acquaintance and Facebook friend. She was a woman with an impact.
Her last Facebook post was grandmother brag on her 18-year-old granddaughter playing in a wind ensemble.
It wasn’t about her cancer.
It wasn’t about her politics.
It was about her family and love.
So many of the posts in the last two months before that were about how lucky she was to have her husband, friends sharing things, funny posts and memes, and big-time promotion for our Hancock County SPCA’s Wine and Whiskers event, its big fundraiser.
That shows a lot about someone’s soul, I think.
Sometimes it takes someone amazing and funny and real like Michele Abbott-Croan to remind us what actually is important. Friends. Family. Kindness. Laughter. Taking care of four-legged friends and two-legged ones. Big hearted laughs.
Everyone noticed how wonderful and giving Michele was. The Bar Harbor (MDI) Rotary Club at its annual meeting awarded Michele the Paul Harris Fellowship. The award is given to community members like Michele who are exemplary in their service to their communities, people who make the world better every single day. That’s what Michele did.
Back in 2016, Michele was recognized for her service to the Mount Desert Island High School Interact Club, the Hancock County SPCA and other clubs and organizations.
And that’s lovely and so deserved, but Michele’s kindness came through text messages and get-togethers, too. It was there in quiet ways that didn’t get the fanfare of annual meetings.
Another local man had cancer at the same time as Michele. He was younger and his cancer wasn’t as severe and though they weren’t terribly close before, during his cancer fight. He wrote on his Facebook,
“The island and world lost an amazing person today. Although she and I were not the best of friends we both grew up in Seal Harbor, she a little older than me. We recently bonded over our own battles with cancer. We would message late into the evening most of this last winter/spring. She had bravery and outlook that helped talk me down many evenings. Her case much worse than mine, but she had this fearless attitude towards her fight. She made sure I knew that I could reach out to her 24/7 and was there even in spite of her own battle. I will never forget her kindness and her spirit. She was truly a hero to me. In her honor and memory, I'm going to donate back all that was generously given to me from my cancer gofundme to be split between Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Spca of Hancock County.
“Rest in peace sweet lady.”
Here is a GoFundMe for Michele and now it’s there for her family that was set up by one of the many friends who loved and adored her.
This might not seem like an appropriate post for LIVING HAPPY, but it is because Michele lived happy and big. She filled her days with action and empathy, humor and kindness. How can you not want to be like that? How can you not show her as an example for us all to emulate? You can’t.
LIVING HAPPY is about finding purpose no matter what. It’s about kindness, empathy, all the things big and small that someone like Michele did every day.
STORIES AND LINKS FROM THIS LAST WEEK.
Three big lessons about relationships and happiness.
And finally, Happiness Is Sexy Apparently: Neuroeconomist Paul Zak, Sexiness, Evolution and Fishing on a Pier
REFERENCES AND ROUND-UP, YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT THINGS.
MasterClass about empathy