"Love everybody and be
good to everybody. That's the main thing."
Those are the all-caps
words that greet visitors to Grandma Betty's website.
And you can expect an
uptick in the number of visitors, after the inspirational Instagram celebrity
(real name: Betty Jo Simpson) from Jeffersonville, Indiana, succumbed to lung
cancer Saturday, eight months after she was diagnosed.
"After a much needed
night of rest, Grandma has come to peace with her battle of Lung Cancer.
Although Grandma Betty is no longer physically with us, she will forever be in
the hearts of the millions of people she touches every single day. Grandma
Betty did not lose her battle to cancer, because her legacy she has left behind
will inspire millions of people to #Smile, #BeHappy, and #StayHappy no matter
what. The fight has ended. The battle is won," the online epitaph read.
As of Saturday evening,
Simpson had more than 682,000 Instagram followers, drawn by her amusing videos,
positive messages and fighting spirit.
To the general public, the
legend of Grandma Betty began around the time of her cancer diagnosis, when her
18-year-old great-grandson, Zach Belden, decided to document the remainder of
her life.
"Before grade school,
I didn't have a babysitter. I had my grandma," Belden told CNN's
Jarrett Bellini in March. "Many of my friends knew Grandma. And
it was a neat way to connect her to them."
Despite her advanced age,
and the cancer, Betty grew quite savvy about social media, even learning to
take selfies, though Belden admitted that process was "harder than it
probably seems."
Now, the woman who defined
herself on Instagram as a "Cancer Fighter" and "Follower of
Jesus" is no longer with us. But she'll live on in the pictures, words,
and spirit that made the social media generation fall in love with the octogenarian.
May her soul find peace in the beyond... Amen!
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