| Diana Griego Erwin: Fools rush in to brighten days of online friend DingBatAnnie By Diana Griego Erwin -- Bee Staff Writer Published 2:15 a.m. PDT Thursday, April 24, 2003 She goes by "Annie," although her legal name is La Vona Lynne Schamber. Online, she is known and adored as DingBatAnnie. This is not a put-down. Annie, 39, who lives in Stockton, has become the global darling of the Pet Lovers Forum at the The Motley Fool on the Web (www.fool.com) in part because of her humor, compassion, eloquence and courage. Oh, yes. She's also dying. Last summer, Annie posted a message telling her online friends that she had lung cancer and it didn't look good. "Remember that cough? It ain't over yet, folks," she wrote. "Start of whine: I wanna go to Disney World. I wanna grow up to see the first colony on Mars. I wanna see my kids have kids as bad as they were. I wanna see Kenny (her husband) with white hair, knowing I put them there. I wanna redo my bathroom. I just plain wanna. ... And pass the cheese for my whine ..." Even before this stunning announcement, many Motley Fool members, who called themselves "Fools," knew the animal-loving DingBatAnnie as a woman who writes stories about her dogs, many of them in the form of conversations with the boxers, Gussie, Lacey and Bandit. The heartbroken Fools got busy. A Fool named Phil drove 512 miles round-trip from Topeka, Kan., to Aurora, Mo., in the Ozarks to pick up Annie's mother, Bobbie Hopper, and put her on a plane in Kansas City. The ticket was paid for with frequent-flier miles from another Fool. Yet another started a campaign to make sure Annie received cards or packages from every state in the nation. As of Wednesday afternoon, only Arkansas, Kentucky, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia had yet to check in. Lobster dinners appeared at her door, again courtesy of Fools. Deannda from New York started an eBay auction site to defray the extra medical costs families incur at such times. Items listed for sale include jewelry and artwork created especially for the auction. Annie writes regular reports on how she's doing, physically and emotionally, leaving notes like "Had my first zap today ..." She vowed to be depressed only between the hours of 2 a.m. and 4 a.m. and wondered aloud why the cancer, which metastasized to her brain, is pink. "It should be black," she wrote. "Evil black." Last Friday, Nikki Bua, a Fool from Carmichael, started a "Tell Annie a Story" thread, suggesting tales related to the view from one's window. Already there are 46 posts. The descriptions are beautiful and vivid, full of Cecile Brunner climbing roses, passing joggers, startled deer, birdbaths and, of course, dogs rolling in thick carpets of grass or cats patrolling yards. Some Fools smell distant BBQs in progress; marvel over star-filled midnight skies. They share prayers. Send kisses Annie's way via the Milky Way. Some days are good, others not so. On Tuesday, Annie yearned to fall asleep and wake up "with the angels." She sounded pretty good Wednesday morning; she even had some fight in her voice. While we talked, a package arrived from a Fool in Massachusetts. "Oh, this is so nice," Annie cooed. "There's scented soaps and candles and some of them have butterflies on them. I've always loved butterflies. ... I just love my Fools, and they love me." Elizabeth Weintraub, a Fool from Sacramento, is planning a party for Annie's 40th birthday on June 14, Flag Day. Annie's mother wants 40 American flags stuck in the grass. Fools are making travel plans. Per Annie's wishes, the party will go on no matter what, said Weintraub, a staffer at the Sacramento SPCA. Annie's final wish is for her collection of dog stories to be published, a dream the Fools seem intent on fulfilling. Are they good enough? "Absolutely," Weintraub said. Annie's something of a born storyteller, it seems. Even as child, she lined up her stuffed toys and dolls and told them stories. "Because of the Fools," Annie said, "I will never be forgotten. That was my biggest fear." All this from friends met online. About the Writer --------------------------- The Bee's Diana Griego Erwin can be reached at (916) 321-1057 or e-mail dgriego@sacbee.com. |
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