THANKS JENNA. THAT WAS A BEAUTIFULLY DONE TRIBUTE. SHE WAS AN AMAZING AND INSPIRATIONAL WOMAN. YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT YOU WERE VERY LUCKY TO HAVE HAD HER AS A MOTHER. JOYCE WHITESELL-
Thank you for this wonderful video. I knew she was a brave woman but SO MUCH MORE as I had expected. When you're ready to come to Japan, please let me know ! Friends from Japan.
I met Laurie in a group of women who got together in the Princeton area in the early 2000’s. Occasionally we would play games like scrabble, and quickly it became apparent that Laurie was way ahead of everyone in problem solving. Later I learned that this was true of the NY Times crossword puzzle as well. Eventually members of the group went their own way, but Laurie and I continued to get together. After she moved to Delaware, I would visit. In February 2006 she took me out to a small community on the Delaware Bay and I knew I wanted a “go to” place there. That happened in Fall 2007. We saw many sunsets there, ate good meals, and passed hours just watching the water and the birds. This changed little once she was diagnosed …until the very end.
Laurie handled her illness in such a way that I would forget the finality of it all. Once she said to me “Many days I forget that I have cancer”. This was not denial. Rather, it was an extraordinary ability to be mindful of the day and of the present. This ability to live in the moment often enabled me to do the same …so much so that one day Laurie, ever the realist, said to me “You know that I am not going to survive this”.
There are so many memories: Christmas Dinners, a day in NY City, shopping at Ollies, walking Maverick, riding the streets of Camden with Laurie warning me about speeding tickets, Pifer Orchards, and Spence’s Market, and on and on. Now I have many places where I feel Laurie’s presence.
The last afternoon I spent with Laurie in Hospice, I told her that I would be back the next day. She replied “I may not be here’. Journey well my friend and know that you are always with me.
THANKS JENNA. THAT WAS A BEAUTIFULLY DONE TRIBUTE. SHE WAS AN AMAZING AND INSPIRATIONAL WOMAN. YOU ALREADY KNOW THAT YOU WERE VERY LUCKY TO HAVE HAD HER AS A MOTHER.
ReplyDeleteJOYCE WHITESELL-
Thank you for this wonderful video. I knew she was a brave woman but SO MUCH MORE as I had expected. When you're ready to come to Japan, please let me know ! Friends from Japan.
ReplyDeleteI met Laurie in a group of women who got together in the Princeton area in the early 2000’s. Occasionally we would play games like scrabble, and quickly it became apparent that Laurie was way ahead of everyone in problem solving. Later I learned that this was true of the NY Times crossword puzzle as well. Eventually members of the group went their own way, but Laurie and I continued to get together. After she moved to Delaware, I would visit. In February 2006 she took me out to a small community on the Delaware Bay and I knew I wanted a “go to” place there. That happened in Fall 2007. We saw many sunsets there, ate good meals, and passed hours just watching the water and the birds. This changed little once she was diagnosed …until the very end.
ReplyDeleteLaurie handled her illness in such a way that I would forget the finality of it all. Once she said to me “Many days I forget that I have cancer”. This was not denial. Rather, it was an extraordinary ability to be mindful of the day and of the present. This ability to live in the moment often enabled me to do the same …so much so that one day Laurie, ever the realist, said to me “You know that I am not going to survive this”.
There are so many memories: Christmas Dinners, a day in NY City, shopping at Ollies, walking Maverick, riding the streets of Camden with Laurie warning me about speeding tickets, Pifer Orchards, and Spence’s Market, and on and on. Now I have many places where I feel Laurie’s presence.
The last afternoon I spent with Laurie in Hospice, I told her that I would be back the next day. She replied “I may not be here’. Journey well my friend and know that you are always with me.
Faye Arnett
April 7, 2010