SavageMFer Origin
Celeste
Celeste Anne Steinhelper Wood (aka CW) passed on July 20th, 2019, just 17 days short of her 47th birthday. 17,149 days. It goes by in a blink. It certainly seems like it wasn’t enough. And yet, it was enough…..it was enough to create an extraordinary body of good in the world. It was enough to be a loving and beloved daughter, granddaughter, sister, cousin, and friend. It was enough to get married and be a wonderful wife, become a fantastic aunt, and raise a daughter into a beautiful young woman. It was enough to live an extraordinary life. She taught school for 21 years, but I think some of her greatest lessons, the ones that reached the most students and will have the most lasting impact, happened after she retired to fight cancer. She taught us how to be tougher, braver, and courageous. This program is only possible through her toughness, bravery, and courage.
CW: Our OAK
Celeste was an OAK, a one of a kind. She lived with a certain fire. She was a commanding presence. She hurled herself at life with an extraordinary force. One of my favorite t-shirts she owned simply read SAVAGE on the front of it, printed in all caps, just like all of her writing (even her writing was fierce!). To me, that word describes her fierce determination to live life on her terms and navigate the wilderness that is cancer. Unfortunately, her death made Moving Forward necessary. Fortunately, her life made Moving Forward possible.
The OG Savage MFer
I like to think of those of us in the Moving Forward program as being "Savage MFers." Through loss, we have certainly been exposed to the negative connotation of the word savage. And like the original use of the term savage, after loss many of us find ourselves in an unfamiliar, brutal wilderness. But in recent years, as with Celeste's T-shirt, it has come to mean fierce. In order to move forward after loss we often need to show the fierce determination that Celeste showed in her fight against cancer. She was certainly the OG Savage MFer in my mind. Now it's our turn.
