Imagine being loved this much. Everett High School’s Class of 1974 was a very special group that included Linda Aalbu. Teenagers clung together, safe in a giggling pack at Friday night football games, then drifted apart after “Pomp and Circumstance.”
But after Aalbu died of cancer seven years ago, her friends made a pact. They have fun, and work hard, all for Aalbu and the fight against an insidious disease.
They will participate at Relay for Life, June 11 and 12, at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. The overnight event is designed to celebrate cancer survivors and raise money for research and programs for the American Cancer Society.
Team captain of 4-U-Aalbu, Pam Thomas, said their friend died of brain cancer.
“It left a huge void in many of our lives,” Thomas said. “Linda was the kind of woman who could walk into a room and light it up with her smile and personality. She was the best.”
Months could go by without ever seeing her, yet when the pair got together, it was if they had seen each other the day before, Thomas said.
“I spent time with Linda in her last days, and even then, her humor and great spirit shone through,” Thomas said. “She knew she was dying, had come to terms with it, far better than me and the rest of our friends, and I think she was trying to comfort us.”
Some of the dozen or so in the group met at Washington Elementary School in Everett. Dianne Koshelnik, 49, went to school with Aalbu at North Junior High School in Everett.
“Linda was having a boy-and-girl party at her house,” Koshelnik said. “Everyone was so excited to go because the parties at Linda’s were the best. We didn’t have very many records to listen and dance to, but Linda was always so much fun.”
They all said Aalbu should have been a go-go girl because she could do the “Monkey” and the pony better than anyone, Koshelnik said.
She was hilarious, she added.
Their social life intertwined at Everett High School. Some of their friends married after graduation and raised families.
“We got together to go to movies or stayed at home and watched TV together when the money was tight,” Koshelnik said. “We camped for many years and later vacationed together. She was the glue that kept us together.”
Relay team co-captain Peggy Widgren was part of the North Junior High School group.
| For more information about Relay for Life, call 800-729-5588. |
“You always knew where Linda was, her laugh would single her out,” Widgren said. “People were drawn to her somewhat like a magnet.”
Aalbu’s vivacious personality kept the bonds close, said Cindy Michaelis, who met her friend in kindergarten.
“She loved to have fun, planning yearly Halloween parties, hot tub parties, barbecues, where there was always music, food and laughs with friends and family,” Michaelis said. “Linda’s passing hit hard. We became stronger friends because of our will to keep Linda’s memory with us.”
Michaelis said her friends have two things in common; their love of Linda and commitment to help raise money for cancer research.
One of the group, Linda Faulkner Kladnick, moved to Arizona two years ago but will be here for the relay.
“Linda was someone you could never forget,” Kladnick said “Her heart and smile remained bright even during her hardest days battling cancer. We were all lucky to have her in our lives and look forward to our yearly work for the American Cancer Society in her honor.”
Their work keeps friendships alive.
“Our first year with the relay, we flew by the seat of our pants,” Thomas said. “We pulled it off, quite successfully, but knew we could improve. Each year we do get better and better. We try to outdo our previous year’s efforts, and I must say we are very successful, and we still have a blast.”
Thomas said best friends will walk every year in Linda Aalbu’s memory, until the awful disease is gone.
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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