On May 29, 2004 my friend Shannon died. I had known her since 1998 when she expressed an interest in my body-printing projects. Once I got to know her we found many common interests (books, movies, and music). In a very short time we became close.

She was helpful and kind to her friends, but her personal demons began to take hold of her in the last few years. One by one her close friends were forced to "draw the line" over her self-destructive behavior. We never stopped caring, but we also couldn't keep putting ourselves in harm's way (her's or ours).

Eventually Shannon did some things that forced me to turn her away. I had hoped that she would get the message and try harder to straighten out her life. We had all tried so hard to help her, but she turned on us or turned us away.

In April she fell ill and had frequent stays in the hospital. At the end of May she was back in the hospital and on a waiting list for a liver transplant.

We all thought she'd have at least some time- that we'd see her again.

A few days later she died.

I miss her terribly. I lost her twice.