Jody Hughes
1933 - 2006
Jody Hughes, the first certified
Iyengar Yoga Instructor on the Georgetown Divide,
died peacefully in her home in Tucson,
Arizona, on November 21, 2006, at the age of
73.
She was a graduate of the Iyengar Yoga Institute
of San Francisco in 1983. After graduation she
studied at Oxford, England and Pune, India with
B.K.S.Iyengar and his daughter Geeta. For many
years she continued to take classes from senior
Iyengar instructors in the United States.
She and her husband, Dick, moved to the Georgetown
Divide in the Northern Sierra Foothills in 1982
and bought a home in Garden Valley. She had a
number of studios starting at the Georgetown
Health Club, a Main Street Studio, a Buffalo
Hill Center Studio, her home studio in an attic
loft and finally a new studio added to her Grouse
Lane home. She also taught classes at the Placerville
Town Hall and Somerset Grange.
In 1996 she and Dick moved to SaddleBrooke,
an active adult community near Tucson, Arizona,
where Jody taught at the community’s fitness
center for seven years. She also taught at the
Westward Look Resort Hotel in Tucson.
In 1998 Jody was diagnosed with multiple myeloma,
a rare bone marrow cancer. She continued to teach
yoga for four days each week, while taking IV
treatment for her cancer on the fifth day of
each week. She retired from teaching yoga in
2002 at the age of 70. Most patients with myeloma
live about 3 to 5 years. Jody lived nine years
with this disease. In 2005 she was diagnosed
with another very rare disease, called primary
amyloisosis, which is an abnormal protein usually
produced by cells in the bone marrow. This disease
was deposited first in her tongue, then mouth,
esophagus and gastrointestinal tract, as well
as her heart and skin. Jody was medically in
remission for myeloma by taking a newly approved
FDA drug, Relivimid, but it was the amyloidosis
condition that caused her death. Amyloidosis
is an incurable disease at this time. She had
much pain from time to time during her long nine-year
illness, but she never complained to anyone about
her suffering.
As her medical condition worsened
she began to lose weight and was not able
to take solid and liquid food. She and her oncologist
agreed it was time to begin hospice on November
1st. She elected to be home where she had views
from her balcony of the beautiful Santa Catalina
Mountain just 5 miles away. Every afternoon she
was out on the balcony for hours until the sun
would set on the mountains. She was able to walk
up to the last few days. She never complained
and her pain and suffering went away. Her daughter
moved into their apartment and helped Dick care
for her. As a true believer of Yoga she practiced
some form of yoga each day until her next to
last day.
The last moments of Jody’s
life were memorable. The night before she died
she was sleeping on her back and started to make
common gurgling noises deep in her throat as
she was breathing. We called the hospice nurse
at 4 AM. She said “Give
your wife an injection of morphine and one of
ativan, then change her position so she will
be able
to breathe freely.”
After Dick gave Jody her injections, as she
was soundly sleeping, Linda and Dick together
put their arms under Jody’s body and gently
turned her on her right side. Jody had her right
arm up to her heart and her left arm out stretched
across her chest. Jody continued to sleep soundly
and the gurgling sounds began to subside slowly.
In a few minutes she had started her transmission
to a new dimension and became a spirit.
Little did Linda and Dick know that at the time
they had placed Jody on her right side with her
arms positioned to correct her breathing problem
they had placed Jody in the position of “the
sleeping lion,” which is the posture in
which Buddha died, according to “The
Tibetan Book of Living and Dying”, page
250-251, by Sogyal Rinpoche, 1992.
Jody’s peaceful ending was further enhanced
by the action of her daughter, Linda. She and
her mother had talked about how Jody wanted to
leave this world. Jody got her wish. Linda removed
Jody’s bedclothes, then washed her mother’s
body and gave her a light oil massage. She then
dressed Jody in her favorite yoga clothes. Linda
combed her mother’s hair, touched up her
face, placed her mothers arms crossed over her
chest, and lastly placed rose pedals, from flowers
that a favorite niece had sent, in her hands
and around her head on the bed. Linda then had
a special private time alone with her mother.
Dick then kissed Jody and wished her well on
her spiritual journey.
When the ambulance attendants came they gave
Linda and Dick time to say their final goodbyes
to Jody. Then they gentled wrapped their angel,
now 75 pounds, in warm blankets and carried her
down to the ambulance. They carried Jody as she
wished, head first, eyes closed with her face
exposed to the sky. Linda and Dick walked, arm
in arm together, with the gurney to the ambulance.
Jody’s eyes opened partially as if to give
them a last goodbye.
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ONE LAST SMILE – A cup
of coffee story
It was a tradition with Dick and Jody to have
one cup of coffee every morning when they got
up and were ready for the day’s activity.
On the day before Jody died she was heavily
sedated when I got up. The morning paper came
early at our place, usually by 5 AM. Today was
no different. I always make the coffee and I
always make a little extra just in case someone
wants more than one cup. Since Linda had been
living in our home I made some for her, too,
but because Jody was sound asleep, maybe even
unconscious, I did not think to bring a cup to
Jody. I finished my coffee and read the paper.
When I got into bed next to Jody,
Linda was sitting in a chair by the bed, it occurred
to me that I had not turned off the coffee pot
in the kitchen. I did not know how long
we
would be by Jody’s side so I whispered
to Linda “Would you go and turn off the
coffee pot?” At the sound of my words Jody’s
eyes opened wide and she loudly said “I
want a cup of coffee!” I was startled yet
greatly amused that my possibly unconscious wife
was asking for a cup of coffee. I quickly said “Coming
right up.”
I promptly got a small cup for Jody and one
for Linda. Jody and I always drink coffee black
without sugar or milk. Linda, though, had to
have milk. Since we never buy milk, Linda said
she would have some vanilla ice cream in her
coffee. When Jody heard this she said “I
want ice cream in my coffee, too.” She
has never in her life had ice cream in her coffee
before. Well, she got her first cup of coffee
with ice cream that day and she loved it.
Linda and I smiled about this. Jody was not
sure what we were smiling about, but it was a
wonderful moment for all of us.
Dick Hughes
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