Journalist With Brain Cancer Who Penned Her Final Column Last Month Dies

— -- Alison Piepmeier, the journalist who said goodbye in a touching column titled "Thank you for my beautiful life" last month, has died. She was 43.

Her husband, Brian McGee, told ABC News that she passed away Friday. The Charleston City Paper writer had been battling a brain tumor for seven years before her death.

"Alison lived a rich and fulfilling life," McGee said in a statement. "We loved Alison, whether as wife, daughter, sister, or mother. She was a passionate advocate for the disadvantaged and the disabled. By her example, Alison taught us all how to live well, and die well."

"Alison lost almost all her ability to communicate by the first few days of August. I am grateful that Alison got to say goodbye on her own terms to family, friends, and all those who cared about her struggle with cancer," the statement added.

The writer, who had stopped receiving treatment and decided to live out her days in hospice care, told ABC News last month that she really wanted to write her final column "to say goodbye while I still could."

In the column, Piepmeier not only mentioned the "many acts of kindness" from family and friends that she received, but also reflected on her daughter Maybelle's "first princess party."

"I've spent years writing about cancer, but also about children, disability, abortion, Down syndrome, homophobia, and other challenging topics," she explained in July. "I wanted to finish by writing about things that always matter, but especially those things that matter at the end: love, family, friendship, gratitude, and forgiveness."

Piepmeier said last month that she hoped her legacy would live on through her students "at the College of Charleston and at Vanderbilt. At the center of my heart, though, are my friends and my family. What I have left them is what matters most to me."

She added: "I don't presume to know what a next life would be like. I don't even know what to imagine. In a next life, I hope I would be in a place where people would need me, where there is something meaningful to do. A next life without work, without purpose, would be disappointing."