Queen candidate's journey ends

By BILL O'BRIEN
Record-Eagle staff writer

Lauren Hemming

      TRAVERSE CITY - Lauren Hemming spent the final months of her short life transforming a terminal illness into an inspirational journey that touched friends, family and strangers alike.
      Lauren's journey ended early Thursday, when the former National Cherry Queen candidate died at her family's home in Peninsula Township after a nine-month fight with cancer. She was 21.
      Describing her as a spontaneous and fun-loving coed, those close to Lauren say they won't forget her courage in the face of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a ravaging form of cancer that was discovered in a lung last spring but spread to her brain.
      "She probably lived a fuller life than a lot of people ever will, even if they live 40 years longer than she did," said Julia Parsons, a senior at Hillsdale College and among Lauren's closest friends.
      Lauren became ill last April while taking part in a lifeguard certification class at Michigan Technological University, where she studied civil engineering. She was tired and had trouble breathing, and was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She left school and moved back home for treatment.
      She looked beyond the illness and last summer fulfilled a lifelong dream by seeking the National Cherry Queen crown. She didn't win, but her efforts inspired other cancer victims around the country who sent her cards and letters.
      "You can't believe the enormous quantity of mail we've gotten from all over," said Dawn Hemming, Lauren's mother. "A lot of it is from people we don't even know."
      Lauren began treatments in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Her parents kept an apartment there while her mother e-mailed friends with updates on Lauren's condition.
      "If I missed a day, I'd hear about it," Hemming said.
      Lauren remained upbeat through multiple rounds of chemotherapy and other complications that included double vision, her family said.
      "She'd had incredible disabilities with this...but she kept her chin up, and showed us all how to handle something like this with class," Hemming said. "Sometimes she doubted the success, but she never complained."
      Lauren continued to fight for her life the past several months, despite serious setbacks, and her doctors planned stem cell transplant treatment over the holidays. But her health worsened and tests showed growth in a brain tumor.
      She had surgery late last month and slipped into a coma, and last week was given only a few days to live.
      But Lauren didn't give in. She was flown home last week and was under hospice care, but became lucid for a time over the weekend and spoke with friends and family. She tried on jewelry, sipped coffee - and told her dog not to jump up on visitors.
      "We got her here, got settled in and by the next morning she could say things to us," Hemming said.
      A steady stream of friends from Hillsdale and MTU visited in her final days, and buoyed Lauren's family.
      "There's just been a tremendous outpouring of support," Hemming said. "We're very inspired - there's a sense of peace at our house today."
      Lauren is also survived by her father Jed and sister Lisa. A celebration of her life will be held Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. at the Hagerty Center at the Great Lakes Campus of Northwestern Michigan College.
     

  

For those of you who care but might not have heard. Blane Lagerman's
mother Sally died this weekend. I hope all of your thoughts will be
with him and his family.
Love to you all,
Wdy
11/29/04