DEAR Kitty: Journal of a Journey to Freedom

ALMOST NO ONE WILL KNOW, but the world lost someone very special today. I was one of the fortunate ones to know Rosalee (Rose). A few of you might even remember hearing me talk about her.
About four years ago, my then partner and I were hunkered down at a Cheyenne, Wyoming truck stop during a winter storm. He was chatting politics with another couple and I disagreed so I looked around. I saw this looked-to-be "homeless" lady sitting at another table using her old tablet device. I am a quiet and shy person, but on this day, I consciously thought to myself, "Step outside yourself and say hello. What can it hurt?" It was a bold move for me so that is why I remember it so well. If I hadn't done that, I'd have missed out on so much. We got to talking and she started to trust me because I didn't judge her. She lived in an old RV on a nearby street with her dogs. She shared with me that she was an artist and hesitantly showed me a roll of papers that were her collection of drawings. They were absolutely amazing. She had been featured once in a newspaper, but she was homeless and had to move so much of her life that no one really knew about her. We exchanged Facebook friendships and parted. We were friends ever since. She slowly told me her story, and was one of the sweetest people, but her life was tragic. She never complained but it broke my heart. She taught me a lot and changed my view of "homeless people." She did the best she could with what life had handed her and with the start she got in life. About a year after we met, the police (without warning) impounded her RV and took her pets to the pound. It was in the middle of a bitter Wyoming winter. She was devastated because she didn't have money to get her stuff back, but she never asked me for anything. However, I shared her story and situation on my blog here and some of you donated to the fund I set up to help her. She had no idea, but because of you, I was able to surprise her with the money to get her RV back, her dogs, and some extra supplies. That saved her and she was beyond grateful. Another year later when her mother passed away, she bought a little tiny farm in the middle of nowhere in Kansas because it was what she could afford. She loved that rough place because she loved her animals most of all. They were her safe place in the world. She particularly loved horses, and in her younger days, she trained them. I visited her once at her farm, and we always kept in touch. She worked hard at a local grocery store until her health began to fail her, but she didn't have insurance so getting medical help was hard. Don't get me started on the fairness of getting "help" out there. She tried and she worked until she absolutely couldn't. Although her farm was paid off, she barely made enough to eat so she couldn't pay the property taxes, and they wouldn't let her make payments. Finally, the only thing she could do was sell her beloved farm. It was about two or three weeks ago that it sold, and she moved all the little she had to a storage unit and she got a motel room. It broke my heart to see life be so unfair so someone who tried so hard. Three months ago, she was devastated when her sister died of cancer. Two weeks ago, Rose also ended up in the hospital where after tests (her regular doctor never did) they told her she had stage four lung cancer that had spread to her liver. They simply sent her home. No help. No guidance. She was in the motel but planned to get an apartment. I was calling her every 2-3 days to check on her and she had called me when I was so sick this summer. However, about a week ago, she stopped answering her phone. I had no other way of contacting her and she had no address anymore. I knew something was wrong because she'd not make me worry but I couldn't help but need an answer. Rose has no family. They are all gone and she never married or had children. Today, I thought to call the grocery store I thought she might have worked at back in the past and see if they would know anything. The person that answered actually did know her (small town). I knew the news couldn't be good, but I still wasn't quite prepared when the lady told me Rose had just passed away today at 1240pm. I'm thankful to know a concrete answer, but it has hit hard. 😢 I don't mean for this to be so sad, but I know that because of her circumstances and being "homeless" and not one of the elite, she didn't count to most people in this world. They didn't know who she was, what a kind person she was, and what an amazing artist she was. Her work that I saw deserved to be shared with the world, but she never was seen enough for that opportunity. She hated having her picture taken because it was hard to take care of herself in her poverty so I have very little tokens to remember her other than our story. I'm so glad that I saw her that day. I'm honored that I got to know her. The pictures I'm sharing were from her old FB page and of when she was much younger. She was 64 when she passed today. I know too that because no one knows her and no one knows me, it kills me to think that her stuff won't mean anything to whoever gets rid off it. I would have given anything to have just one of her drawings and I told her so the last time I spoke to her. I wanted so bad to see her once more but she lived over eight hours from me and I can't get time off work right now so I couldn't get there. I had hoped there would be more time, but there wasn't. I'm glad she's not suffering. I guess by posting this I hope that we can all learn to look past the external of people. And most of all, because she wasn't seen in life, I want to tell the world that this beautiful woman existed and that she was important, brilliant, beautiful, amazing, caring, smart, and talented. Rest in Peace, dear Rosalee. I will miss you but I'm so honored I got to have you in my life. Thank you for that. I'll remember.