Gloria Kaufman's Final Update to Family and Friends letter, 2004 April 14

Title

Gloria Kaufman's Final Update to Family and Friends letter, 2004 April 14

Description

This is a letter written by Gloria Kaufman about 3 months before her passing.
Kaufman described her battle with stage 4 ovarian cancer.
Kaufman then discussed the work she was doing - namely, she was recording video poems with her daughter Miriam. She explained that she was still enjoying life.
She ends the letter by encouraging the reader to be good, kind, and "arrogantly joyous!"

After the letter, there is a Cherokee Indian Prayer about still being with loved ones even after death.

Creator

Kaufman, Gloria

Source

Gloria Kaufman Papers, Indiana University South Bend Archives and Special Collections

Date

2004-04-14

Rights

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Identifier

Kaufman_Box2_Folder92_K024

Text

Gloria Kaufman
305 Wakewa South Bend, IN 46617
April 14, 2004

Dear Family & Friends-­

I'm sending this news to a small number of people who have expressed concern over my health lest you find yourself hit with sad news in the near future. The truth is always less dramatic & less hurtful. I appear to be losing my battle with stage 4 ovarian cancer, and I don't know how much more time I have.

As of now, my energy is quite low, and I rarely speak on the phone. (I have always preferred to avoid the telephone and my current condition gives me the perfect excuse to indulge) but Sam, Nliriam, and David (who's been here for 3 separate weeks) are happy to report on my status. I have very little pain, and what pain I do have is fairly easy to control with medication. My doctor tells me that I will likely have very little or no pl ain before the end, and it seems most likely that I will die peacefully at home without needing to go to the hospital.

On the positive side, which is the important side, I am working in the studio almost every day and Nliriam & I are creating some exciting new video poems--one of which will probably be a world premier at the First Annual FURCADIA FESTIVAL that will take place in March 2005 in Austin Texas. (I am so proud that David's Furcadia game now has so many players that it's large enough to warrant its own festival !)

Miriam has told me that she will be arranging some showings of our videopoetry in New York later this year and she also plans to release collections of our video poems on DVD and VHS. I'm also thrilled to report that I have finally achieved the kind of controlled mix I sought using three different video sources so that the effects I get are designed&nbs! p; and not random. This is a real breakthrough for me in my art, and as far as I know, has not been done before. It can now be seen in "Air #2", which will probably be released sometime next year,
pending the musical setting.

Altho my activities are limited, I walk outside everyday, enjoying our flowers and the splendid budding trees in the park by our home. My mobility is excellent. Since I can control my environment, and people are not making unreasonable demands on me ("Gloria, save the world,"), I am having some very enjoyable days, and I am continuing to love and to live. I am deeply blessed by a loving, creatively supportive and fun­making family. I am very blessed in dear messages from wonderful friends. THANK YOU! And thank you for sharing our lives so meaningfully in the past. The past lives on.

One last word. The world appears to be in worse messes than those we have all our lives lamented. Most are calamities beyond our reach. In the face of these catastrophes, join me in arrogantly pushing acts of goodness, of kindness, of creativity into the world. Look for, and create chances to laugh rather than lament. Life has no value unless we go for JOY, and joy is contagious. I wish you more & greater joy. Now more than ever is the time to embrace what is positive. BE ARROGANTLY JOYOUS!

With specific love to each of you,
Gloria


Cherokee Indian Prayer

I give you this one thought to keep,
I'm with you still.
I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glint on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not think of me as gone
I am with you still, in each new dawn.
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die.



"I am so pleased to have seen the fruition of my peonies!"
Gloria Kaufman May 2004

Citation

Kaufman, Gloria, “Gloria Kaufman's Final Update to Family and Friends letter, 2004 April 14,” IU South Bend Archives Digital Collections, accessed March 29, 2024, https://iusbarchives.omeka.net/items/show/156.