By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
Even when you know the end is near, it is never easy to bid someone farewell.
As human beings, we dig in our heels against death, fighting it with every last ounce of our strength, clawing for every last minute we have on this earth.
That’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s one of those things that makes us uniquely human. But it also makes saying goodbye that much more difficult.
Amy Lamerand Zott exited this world Saturday evening, a year and a half after a Stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis. In that year and a half, she lived her life to the fullest and taught so many about the important of quality of life.
In the last 18 months, Zott and her family traveled to Ireland, went on a hot-air balloon ride and took a cruise to Key West, the Grand Cayman Islands.
And according to Amy’s mother Shirley – who basically moved in with the family during the week so Amy’s husband Jeff, could work – they just had fun.
“We played,” said Shirley. “We had as much fun as we could.”
Shirley said she and Amy would schedule lunch with friends, just to catch up and touch base.
“Our goal was to get out every day,” her mother said.
It wasn’t always easy, Shirley said, pointing out that the further the disease progressed, the more pain Amy was in. Shirley said there were some mornings she really had to push Amy to get going – when staying in bed would have been the easiest thing to do.
That wasn’t Amy Zott, however. She didn’t want to lie down and just let pancreatic cancer rule the time she had left. Instead, she continued to reach out and help others, said friend Jill Schoenberg.
Zott, an attorney, would take on cases pro-bono, and continued to help as often as possible, even when she was sick.
She was also active in Burlington’s community.
“You meet those kind of people, and it’s rare,” Schoenberg said.
One of those rarities came in April, when Zott and her circle of friends – dubbed “Amy’s Angels” – organized a fundraiser for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
That fundraiser netted more than $26,000 for the organization, which works nationwide to advance research, support patients and create hope.
That day in April, Zott wasn’t at the event the entire time, and it was clear she was tired. But her friends rallied around her. A picture snapped of Zott with Schoenberg and her former law practice partner, Kathy Muffit, shows everyone smiling.
“She just thrived on the energy of those friendships,” Shirley said.
Even as time started winding down for Zott late in 2016, she stayed involved. While she couldn’t be 100 percent active on the City of Burlington Zoning Board of Appeals, she still received all the materials and weighed in on what was going on.
And on Christmas Eve, she traveled to Milwaukee to see “A Christmas Carol.”
She fought through the holidays in spite of being in hospice, and made it to the couple’s 23rd wedding anniversary on Dec. 21.
“She gave it all she had,” Shirley said. “She’s not doing it just for herself.”
-
-
-
-
-