Jessi’s Journey

09/12/2025

Thank you to everyone who made tonight a beautiful tribute to Jess…. It was absolutely amazing to see a room full of people who love Jessica and our entire family.

A huge thank you to our Nicks Place family. Your patience, kindness and beautiful work to make this all possible and perfect was beyond appreciated and noticed. Your attention to every single detail and kindness as we navigated this was absolutely amazing, and we are ALL beyond grateful for the family who has become our family ❤️❤️.

Now, it is time to move on and start focusing on my own mental health and life without my person ❤️❤️

09/10/2025

Tomorrow is the day- please, please, “come as you are”… no need to get all dolled and dressed up! While Nicks Place is the place of our fancy friends, jeans, shorts, dresses, or tie dye are ALL acceptable ❤️❤️❤️

We will be having a Celebration of Life for Jessica on Thursday, September 11, 2025 at Nicks Place in Edinboro. From 5:30-7 we will have “visiting hours” for anyone who would like to come to pay the respects to her family. We will have a short ceremony starting at 7, followed by a light dinner for any close friends and family who wish to stay. If you would like to stay for the dinner, please RSVP to me (Becca) by this Friday, September 5th so we can have an accurate count!

09/03/2025

We will be having a Celebration of Life for Jessica on Thursday, September 11, 2025 at Nicks Place in Edinboro. From 5:30-7 we will have “visiting hours” for anyone who would like to come to pay the respects to her family. We will have a short ceremony starting at 7, followed by a light dinner for any close friends and family who wish to stay. If you would like to stay for the dinner, please RSVP to me (Becca) by this Friday, September 5th so we can have an accurate count!

08/16/2025

View Jessica L. Chaffee's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.

08/12/2025

One year ago today, I called Jessi…. Not uncommon, as I spoke to Jess almost every single day. But this call was special - she had had multiple biopsies done, and all biopsies were showing that there was something wrong, but they couldn’t find any sign of cancer…. So when I called her one year ago, and asked her how she was feeling, she responded, “It’s not the last birthday I will celebrate, so, I’m pretty fu***ng awesome!!”

I share this story with you all, not to make you sad, but to encourage you all to not take life for granted. Celebrate the birthdays like it may be your last… get excited about a beautiful bird or tree… run outside and sing and dance in the rain… find something amazing and be stupid excited about it…. Find something to enjoy, just for you ❤️❤️❤️

If anyone has a “Jessica story” that will make us smile, laugh, or even shed a tear, please feel free to share it here. I am trying really hard to focus on the laughs, smiles and silliness that happened over the last 49 years.

Happy 50th Birthday Jessica!!! I wish like hell you were here to celebrate, but I have no doubt that wherever you are now will make it your best birthday ever 🎉🎊🎉

08/07/2025

8/7/2025 - just before 4 am this morning, Jessica Lea Chaffee found eternal peace.

Please keep all of us in your thoughts, prayers and hearts as we try to find a way to navigate a world without her in it. Arrangements will be made in the coming days and I will keep you all updated.

Thank you to every single person who has supported all of us through this.

08/06/2025

Jess is still hanging in… I saw this the other day and laughed out loud…. Earlier this week, one of the last words she spoke to our mom was “go f**k yourself.”…. Well done sis 🤣🤣🤣

08/05/2025

Becca’s update 8/4/25: there are no new updates per se… Jessica is having moments of agitation and moments of pure peace… Hospice has been stopping every day, adjusting meds as needed, and overall completely amazing, as expected… we are in a pattern of waiting, taking care of anything she needs, and surrounding her with as much love and peace as we can offer.

I went over after work today and spent a couple hours with her. she’s had a steady stream of close friends and family members, stopping to tell her she is loved. She opened her eyes and looked at me today, a cloudy, unfocused glance…. I told her that I love her, that she was the best big sister, and that I will miss her like crazy… And I told her not to be afraid… She opened her arms for a big hug, and I told her again not to be scared, because she’s told me several times over the last year how scared she is…. She whispered to me that she wasn’t afraid… I promised her she is going to a beautiful place where there is no pain and she will feel peace like never before… She smiled the most beautiful, real smile… While I sobbed like a baby, it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life…

I have no idea how I will exist in a world where she’s not… Our mom and I keep saying we don’t know how to do this, and thank God we don’t… this is the most heartbreaking, confusing, exhausting time of our lives as a family. But I also know that Jessica is ready to be at peace, and as a family, that is what we want for her.

I am reading all cards and messages that come for her. She is still obviously hearing things going on around her, so I continue to just tell her everything, as I’ve always done. For those who pray, I ask for prayers. For all who love her, I hope you all know how much you all mean to her…. Thank you all for the love and support you’ve shown our family ❤️❤️❤️

08/02/2025

Becca’s update 8/2/25: Jess has been pretty unresponsive for the last couple days… a few moments of clear words, but mostly mumbling, moaning, and muttering…. The few things she has said have provided some comic relief for us through some difficult moments… this one may take the cake though…. Anyone who knows Jessica (or myself) knows that the “f word” may be our favorite word…. The fact that she said this to our mother today (and that this may be the last clear thing she says to our mother) is providing us quite the giggle, so I thought I’d share with all who love her…. To be very clear, since we got her home, she and mom have had lots of amazing moments… and Jessica did say “I need you mama” to her a couple of days ago…. We will continue to giggle through these moments to get us through the tougher ones…

We are likely down to days… at this point, we’re trying to keep Jess as comfortable as possible. Cindy brought Maggie last night, and Maggie has been snuggled in with Jess… as a family, we are doing the best we can… some tears, some giggles, some eye rolls, and yes, some moments of sheer frustration… all of the emotions are overwhelming.

I told Jess yesterday that she is so lucky to have so many people who love and care for her. I told her that we have watched her suffer long enough, and are ready to take the burden of her suffering so that she can be at peace. No matter when she passes, it is going to hurt all who love her… so, I hope that she is feeling the love, kindness, prayers and juju coming her way, and she travels peacefully into whatever comes next ❤️❤️.

08/01/2025

Rebecca’s update 7/31- not much to update… Jess is very agitated and restless, mumbling mostly nonsense (mostly to people who are not in the room), in pain and uncomfortable. I did notice Jess’s phone has hundreds of notifications on it.. please know, she is not cognizant enough to read the messages (although she does keep picking up the remote control for the chair to check her emails🤣🤣🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️). If I can get the code to her phone, I will read messages to her tomorrow when I’m with her.

We are trying to keep it together… we’ve been blessed having Aunt Kim and Uncle Brian helping, and I’ll be helping at nights over the weekend…. But truth be told, we are exhausted, heartbroken, and desperately holding on as best as we all can. As always, we appreciate the love, prayers and support ❤️❤️

07/30/2025

Becca’s update 7/29- Mom and our Aunt Kim (an angel right here on earth) brought Jessi home this evening. I ran up long enough to drop off the medicines I grabbed from her apartment last week, give Jess a hug, and tell her she had a SUPER long chin hair…. Jessi is pretty confused and out of it, but did ask me to pluck said chin hair 😝😝. Mom and Kim were meeting with the hospice nurse and things were pretty overwhelming, so I did not stay for too long. Jess was doing a lot of jerking motions and muttering a lot of unintelligible things, but wasn’t complaining or moaning in pain, so that is a good thing. There isn’t much else to update at this point, but wanted to let everyone know that she is “home”.

07/28/2025

Becca’s Update 7/27: our mom got back from her dream vacation yesterday and was in Cleveland today with Jess. We were concerned about getting her to PA on hospice due to some insurance issues. Thankfully, when mom met with Jess’s case manager at CC, they already had things underway to make this happen. Jess will be in Cleveland for at least a couple more days to get her pain under control. We will then be bringing her back to Mom and Dales house for the rest of hospice care.

Jess is in and out of sleep quite a bit. The pain is getting better, but no where near where they want her for comfort care. Hopefully by mid-week, she will be ready for transport to come home.

If anyone would like to send cards or mail to Jess, please feel free to message me for mom or my address. Jessica’s 50th birthday is August 12th and I know some mail would certainly bring her joy ❤️❤️❤️

I will keep everyone posted on here. Do not hesitate to reach out to me through messenger or texting my cell phone with any questions or for updates. I am trying to field as much as I can for our parents for obvious reasons. While I sometimes forget to update people personally through the day to day, I am usually pretty good at responding to texts fairly quickly. As always, thanks to everyone for the support ❤️❤️’