My BFF
I’m devastated. The love of my life lost her four-year battle with kidney cancer May 14 at home, peacefully, surrounded by Adam, Eric, Sarah, Cheryl and me. She had been in Hospice Care for 17 days. The cause of death is metastatic renal cell carcinoma (Stage IV kidney cancer). The cancer was discovered in 2019 and she had her left kidney and a tumor removed. Two annual CT scans were clear. The one in August 2022 showed that the cancer had spread to her lung. Despite taking the newest advanced kidney cancer oral meds and infusions, the cancer spread to other parts of her body. Like my Dad, she fought a good fight. Her friends and family are trying to cope with this huge loss. I could type pages and pages about the fun times we had together and the two fantastic sons we have. We held a Celebration of Life for Claudia June 17th at the Lee Chapel (Sytsema Funeral and Cremation Services) in Norton Shores, Michigan. There is a video of the Celebration on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/838096432/bc2fdb072b?fbclid=IwAR3luICUCaJHJ8UYHzTj8FC4_M3PPAoy0y043fOq6qNqAVRtmNwqhRJpfsQ. There is also one on YouTube. Search Claudia A. Bowers Memorial Service June 17, 2023. Her obituary can be found on sytsemafh.com/obituaries.
I’ve known Claudia for 49 years starting in1974. I’ve lived with her for 45 years (1978). Since I retired in 2017, I’ve been with her 24/7 for five years. I love her a bushel and a peck, a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck. It’s all her fault that we originally got together. If she wasn’t so darn cute, I wouldn’t have tried to get her name. So, how did we meet?
How We Met
It all started in the Robinson Hall dining hall at CMU. I noticed one of the food service workers was cute and wore colorful knee socks. As time went on and seeing her every day, I grew attracted to her. I would sit with a bunch of WCHP guys at meals and I told one of them, Jim Smith from Farmington Hills, that I thought that one of the food service girls was cute but I didn’t know her name and I was too shy to ask. Jim asked which one it was…I pointed…and he said “I’ll be right back”. Jim wasn’t shy. He walked up to Claudia and asked her for her name. He came back to the table and said “Her name is Claudia Bogard.” Back then (1974), they had a student phone book with everyone’s name, address and CMU phone number. It was getting near the end of the school year. I was thinking at first that I would just call her and say hi…but I was just nervous about doing that. With a little encouragement from my radio buds, I got up the nerve to call. She answered and I did eventually introduce myself and told her I lived in Robinson, the dorm next to hers. She didn’t hang up and we talked for a while even though her roommates were wondering who she was talking to. They thought it was a weirdo, and they would be right. I did try to impress her by telling her I was a DJ on WCHP, to which she said “I don’t listen to that station”. I told her I was on the CMU soccer team, to which she said “CMU has a soccer team?” We ended the call with a mutual agreement that I should come over to her dorm room sometime and meet in person. Not sure how long it was, but I did go over to meet her in her dorm room. Her roommates and girls across the hall were all curious who I was and if I was indeed a weirdo. I did ask her out on a date and she said yes. I was thrilled! In an effort to impress her, I took her out to dinner at the classiest restaurant in Mt. Pleasant, The Embers (which is not there anymore). As we spent more time together, I was definitely smitten with her. The plot thickens. After two years at Central, she was thinking of transferring to Western Michigan University and study Speech Pathology. As we dated more and more, I wanted her to return to Central for what would be my senior year, her junior year. I thought if she went to another college, she might find some other guy and leave me. She decided to return to Central and I was ecstatic! I drove down to Allen Park a lot that summer. In the Fall, I moved into an apartment with Brother Bond and Brew and she moved into an apartment on the same street within walking distance of each other. Soccer season was in full swing and I convinced Claudia to be a ball girl for the team. We spent a lot of time together that year and I graduated in May. I am indebted to Jim Smith forever for getting her name or I probably would have never met her!
BFF means Best Friend Forever. After four years of dating and driving up and down Southfield Expressway a thousand times, I asked her to marry me and we did August 11, 1978. See the blog entitled Tying the Knot for photos…one of the best days of my life! And she is my best friend…forever!
Celebration of Life June 17, 2023
Poem read at Claudia’s Celebration of Life June 17, 2023.
Photo I took of Claudia a few years later when her hair was cut shorter.
Photo taken by her friend Alison on a trip they took to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Photo taken at Franklin.
When Bosco was a puppy. We’ve had two dogs, Bosco and Rosie. Dogs love Claudia and the feeling is mutual…I’ve said many times that I think Claudia was a dog in a previous life. I’ve also said no human loves Claudia more than me!
Having fun at our lake lot on Lower Long Lake in Bloomfield Hills.
Having fun on one of our trips to Colorado.
Her nursing school graduation outfit and hat. She graduated from Oakland Community College…Registered Nurse (RN)
With my parents, not sure where, wearing my beloved CMU hat.
Guessing it was at some holiday party, not sure where.
At the Ritten wedding…Claudia was a bridesmaid for her friend Vicki.
With our dog Bosco…photo taken at Franklin.
At Dan Lippitt’s wedding. I’m the one with the trophy wife.
Kayaking on Kent Lake in Kensington Metropark.
In Vancouver BC.
Words to the song “The Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me” sung by Gladys Knight and the Pips (I dedicate this to Claudia. This song came out in Spring of 1974…that’s when I met Claudia…not a coincidence, was meant to be:
“I’ve had my share of life’s ups and downs, but fate’s been kind, the downs have been few, I guess you could say I’ve been lucky, well I guess you could say that it’s all because of you. If anyone should ever write my life story, for whatever reason there might be, You’ll be there between each line of pain and glory, cause you’re the best thing that ever happened to me, ah You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. Oh there have been times when times were hard but always somehow I made it, I made it through, cause for every moment that I’ve spent hurting there was a moment that I spent ah just loving you. I know you’re the best thing that ever happened to me”.
I thank God every day that Claudia didn’t hang up on me when I called her in her dorm room at CMU. There’s a Bee Gee’s song “How Deep is Your Love?” How deep is my love for Claudia? Deep, very deep!
A photo I took with a timer on my camera walking down some trail when we were both in college. I was smitten…big time!
Early in our relationship…enjoying nature!
Claudia was born June 30, 1954 at 10:12 a.m. on a Wednesday at St. Joseph Hospital in Mount Clemens Michigan. Her birth certificate was signed by a nun. She attended River Oaks Elementary School in Dearborn Heights MI. She attended Allen Park High School and graduated in June, 1972. Claudia photo from elementary school…missing a few teeth I see.
Jason, Mark and Claudia looking good in the home on Fox St. in Allen Park, MI.
Claudia attending the Prom her junior year.
Photo taken in Colorado in September 2019 when we went to visit Eric who was working in Boulder at the time. We hooked up with Jim McCormick who took us on some hikes with beautiful Rocky Mountain scenery. This would end up to be our last trip out of the state of Michigan.