The Memory of Wendy Chioji
/
You only had to log onto social media yesterday to see the love being shared about Wendy Chioji.
She was trending nationwide on Twitter, Facebook was full of pictures and stories of Wendy. She was that rare person that you might meet once in your lifetime. A person so full of life, so positive and ready to seize each and every day.
I never worked with Wendy Chioji. But, I worked in Florida at the same time she was at WESH in Orlando.
I met her the first time out on a story. You could just see the confidence in the way she handled herself.
When I first started FTVLive years ago, Wendy was one of the first people to reach out to me and encourage me in my adventure.
We stayed in contact and we have known each other for damn near 30 years. I worked with a guy named John McIntire in Pittsburgh. John worked at WESH and he, like many adored Wendy. We both talked about her sitting in our office in Pittsburgh.
Wendy could be thousands of miles away, but she was still part of the conversation. That was how special she was.
I have posted news on FTVLive of many good people in this business that have passed on. I can tell you, I have never gotten the feedback on anyone as I have on Wendy.
She was a one in a billion person. A person that knew she would die, but never let that stop her.
WESH in Orlando put Wendy Chioji picture on the tower at the station.
Wendy got the chance to look over the city that she owned when it came to TV news, one more time. There have been a lot of great anchors that have worked in Orlando, none of them were loved by viewers as much as Wendy.
I will miss the talks, the emails and the texts and DM’s that Wendy and I sent each other. I will miss knowing that no matter how bad my day was, here was Wendy, cancer taking over her body and dying, yet still smiling and trying to cheer me up.
Many of us did not deserve to have a person like Wendy Chioji as a friend, but I am so damn glad I did.
SO DAMN GLAD!
Wendy, you were and are so loved and we will all miss you so very much.
For those that never got to know her, here is a taste of a one very special woman:
