Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Cindy Stowell Loses at Jeopardy after 5 Wins but Wins Our Hearts

Jeopardy is a game show with Alex Trabek as the questioning host
A shining light in the TV wasteland other than cable news channels I like the most
Tonight I watched five time winner Cindy Stowell go for win number six trying to add to her prior 80+ grand
With a quiet voice but she knew when to the button hit
Conversely when the answer not clear she would just sit
She seemed so quiet almost shy
I was sure she would win and then be adding to her total with a seventh game to try
She trailed the leader in the Final Jeopardy Round by a little over a ten thousand two hundred bucks
Final category of American Olympic athletes in the Rio Games and on the question she ran out of luck
State that finished in top ten with medals with 14 with a man and a woman together winning nine?
She could win if she waged enough and answered correctly and if the leader lost and put too much on the line
Phelps and Ledecky from Maryland was the right answer which the leader got right
Cindy answered New Jersey which was close but for her winning quest ended on that question that night
Little did I know until I turned on my computer to prepare tomorrow’s Ridley's Believe It Or Not
That this quiet, brave champion with a smile to light up a room had 15 days earlier lost another battle she had fought
While her episodes were being taped in August Cindy was battling colon cancer, advanced to Stage 4
Diagnosed with six months to live maybe less but certainly not much more
No contestant knew, only Trebek and a few Jeopardy staff that she most likely would soon die
Knowing at 41 you would soon die what admiration for a fighter to be a contestant and the disease try to defy
She died on December 5, eight days before the first of her six episodes aired
Splurge 80+ grand on the bucket list or one’s winnings to cancer research to its claim to more victims impair
Easy to judge intellect of contestants but as to character much harder to surmise
When it comes to leaving a worthy legacy and example of courage Cindy wins the prize
Rest in Peace and may your donated winnings be the research straw that breaks a cancer’s back
And encourages the living to with dollars and prayers join the anti-cancer crusade and attack
© December 20, 2016, Michael P. Ridley aka the Alaskanpoet
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