This is a blog update by Thomas Frearson, Dawn’s eldest son. Dawn passed away peacefully in her sleep, Nov 14, 2022, at 10:25 pm pacific time. She was in her bedroom in the view of Mount Si, in the home she loved and was surrounded by the family she loved. We will provide more information on a celebration of life for a future date. If you’ve kept up to date with this blog, you know that she’s faced her horrible diagnosis of glioblastoma head on and with grace and humor. She went out the same way.

My mum really loved being able to write this blog while she was living with cancer. I had the task of setting it up mainly because I work with computers and knew what a domain name was. I am not a great editor and so tried to keep any copy editing short. Because of how much she enjoyed the blog, I really wanted to give a final update here. My goal is to keep the blog running indefinitely so that everyone and anyone can continue to read about my mum’s journey.

This was a really devastating diagnosis. She had arguably the worst possible hand dealt when it comes to brain cancer. She started with a surgery that removed a lot of growth but left her with a deficit on her left arm and leg. After surgery, they were incredibly weak. If you knew my mum, you’d know that she was not weak, and worked very hard to not be weak. Throughout the following radiation therapy, she got outside daily starting with walking down the block and leading up to multiple miles and actually cross country skiing! It was so inspiring to see her get up and get out despite her discomfort.

She had some really good months there with family gatherings, trips in Flo, hanging out with friends, and living life to the fullest. We also had some really sad times when the reality of the situation would set in. Every MRI and update was a gut wrenching few days of anxiety, with many scans revealing improvements, or at least stability, for a while.

In March 2022 my mum started noticing weakness on her left side again. This culminated in a trip to the ER, and eventually finding that the tumors had started growing again. We went through a lot of ups and downs over the next few months. Some hope and some despair. She still got outside and traveled and spent even more valuable time with family. People visited from all over the world this past summer.

Through all the down turns, we were still able to convince ourselves that it wasn’t so bad. Transferring mum from bed to wheelchair to bathroom to couch/dining table/adirondack became a new normal. Wheelchair walks to the cul-de-sac at the end of the road became fun adventures. My mum kept mostly good spirits even though this was the hardest thing she’d ever had to endure.

In recent weeks, my mum became more and more confused. Waking up in the morning was much harder to do, even with her routine tea and toast with marmite from my dad. Naps became more frequent and longer. Food wasn’t tasting good. Mainly though, we noticed her attention was drifting more and more. It was hard for her to answer questions, and responses weren’t quick. Her left side was really abandoned by her brain. I asked her if she had anything to say for this final blog and she told me “It got harder and harder towards the end to form sentences. Thank you to everyone who helped me out and followed my journey along the way. It was just this month when I realized just how many people surrounded me.”. It’s amazing how humble my mum was. I don’t know that she ever truly realized how much of an impact she’s had on this world. No matter how many times I tried to let her know, I think she always just thought she was normal. Given that, I want you all to know what an amazing person she was.

Dawn Golder Frearson was an amazing woman. She found a spectacular partner in David Frearson with whom to share her life and adventures. She was a loving, caring, supportive wife throughout their more than 40 years together. She raised four wonderful children: Thomas, Anna, Daisy, and Jonathan, that she loved with all of her enormous heart. She knew the ways in which to support each of her kids and make them know they are loved. I know she was proud of all of us and the lives we have and continue to build. She has five grandchildren, each unique and special to her. Her grandkids became her world. She told me many times near the end that her grandkids were the reason she was still with us. They meant the world to her.

Dawn was a friend to so many people. Over the last year or so I’ve gotten to know so many of the people in my mum’s life. They all love her so much because she’s this beacon of joy and inspiration. With her friends she paddleboards, does yoga, hikes, runs, skis, talks, eats and drinks. I know every friend in her life has a huge void in their heart today.

As a teacher, Dawn reached hundreds of kids from the Snoqualmie valley that are growing up with little pieces of inspiration from her. Not only was she a science teacher, but she also ran the ski club, outdoor clubs, dance clubs, and more. With no experience, she coached volleyball and track and field. There’s nothing she wouldn’t do to help improve her kids’ lives. There have been many occasions where someone reads my last name and asks if I know Mrs. Frearson the science teacher, even outside the valley.

Maybe my mum never realized the extent of her influence because it was too large to realize. This blog has been a small extension of that influence, and a way that she loved putting her thoughts out into the world. I hope everyone that comes here to read this can find some inspiration or wisdom in her words. Thank you for reading.

If you’d like to do something to show your appreciation of Dawn, she requested donations be made to Waskowitz Outdoor School.

Getting my college degree

I recently reconnected with a college friend though our shared experience with cancer. I am re learning about myself and about my values, and thinking about our time together in college.

When you go through the British education system, you start in primary school and work your way through the years. At age 13, you get to secondary school. It is now that you choose or test into your path for life: grammar school, where you follow an academic path, or comprehensive school, where you follow a less rigorous and academic path, training ground for the British class system. I ended up at the grammar school, more thanks to my persistence than any smarts of mine.

Despite being from the wrong end of town, I got through my teenage years reltively unscathed and with a new found social conscious, much to my fathers disgust.
This article says it better.
Great music and movies came from and about this time: The Beatles, Elvis presley, Woodie Guthrie, just do a search for protest songs and movies. You will find some classics.

It is with this backdrop that I discovered that there was some concern for the future of the planet and found myself as an environmentalist. My friend Diane and I started a campus, campagn for nuclear disarmament group (CND). When Margaret thatcher began to close the coal mines we stood with the miners, chanting “COAL NOT Dole”. I was hugely jealous of Diane’s coal miners donkey jacket, with N.C.B. on the back. Watch the full monty for visual context. The town in the movie looks just like the place Diane and I lived, with Jen and Pete just down the road and the working men’s club further down the hill.

We often woke to the sound of hob nail boots of the miners going to work at the Elsecar colliery or the sound of coal being delivered down the back yard coal chutes. I still hear those sounds in my dreams.

A link to the Elsecar and Holland colliery.
https://hemingfieldcolliery.org/pits-hoyland-silkstone/

In what today would be called freshers week, I met fellow students and room mates who would become lifelong friends and follow almost similar paths in life.