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Monday, December 30, 2019

Read the Obit and Felt Tears in My Eyes

It's a Monday morning and, before I go for a quick walk, I was trying to catch up on my emails, which is why I was reading the following email that was sent to me at work on 12/20/2019:

From: Office of the Dean of Students
Sent: Friday, December 20, 2019 3:23 PM
To: Me
Subject: [UnivAdm] A Message to the UI Community

Dear members of the UI community,

I am saddened to inform you of the death of a student from the Hawkeye family. Kenzie Gamble, fourth year human physiology, health and human condition minor, psychology minor, and pre-physical therapy major, died on December 16, 2019. We offer our deepest condolences to Kenzie's family, friends, and loved ones. Kenzie's obituary may be read here: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/davenport-ia/mckenzie-gamble-8964599.

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Take care,
Angie Reams, PhD
Associate Vice President and Dean of Students

I just read the obituary for a U of I senior, Kenzie Gamble. She fought a two year battle with ovarian cancer and passed away at the tender age of 21 years, 10 months, 4 days (7977 days) old. While I never met or knew of her existence, I couldn't help but feel wetness in my eyes as I read the words about her. I don't mean to be selfish about the loss her family is now coping with but it occurred to me that Alex is 21 years, 1 month, 3 weeks, 3 days (7725 days) old and that's only 252 days different. I need to make sure I embrace every day I have with my family.

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