My Friend, Laurie

Summer 2006
November 2010

Heaven got a special delivery this week, as my dear friend Laurie finally got to end her cancer battle and join Jesus...where she will have perfect, cancer-free body. I've known Laurie since my Pre-internship at Riley in the Summer of 1999--12 awesome years. Laurie had an amazing throng of friends and was a tremendous friend to all of them. Some of these friends (and probably family) had the idea to ask each person that knew Laurie to write a letter to her beautiful 4 year old daughter, Casey, so that Casey could try to understand how awesome her mom was. I thought about what I would write for a long time and really mulled over this idea...wishing I wouldn't have waited for Laurie to pass away to put some of these things in writing, but it is what it is. Anyway, I realized that I didn't want just Casey (and her daddy Cory) to know what a great person Laurie was, but I wanted everyone to know...so my blog post today is my letter to Casey, so that everyone can get just a glimpse of Laurie.

Dear Casey,
You don't know me well, but trust me that I've been praying for you long before you were even born. I know that no words can even begin to describe your beautiful mom, but I'm going to try my best to share with you how much I love her. Your mom was my mentor, my spiritual inspiration, and more important than anything, she was my friend.
I met your mom in the summer of 1999--she had only been at Riley Hospital a little over a year when I was a student there trying to learn about Child Life. She helped me that summer and even kept helping me during my last year at Purdue and during my internship at Methodist--that is the same college she went to and the same place that she did her internship! When I was ready to get a job, your mom was one of people that interviewed me and really helped me get hired. After I started working with your mom at Riley Hospital she really helped me understand the skills I would need. She taught me how to handle all of the hard stuff about working at the hospital. She taught me how to love people no matter where they came from or what they've done. She taught me how to teach children of all ages about their feelings. She taught me how to be the best Child Life Specialist I could be...and I'm not the only person she taught that to--just ask anyone that worked with her at Methodist or Riley, anyone that was her patient, or anyone that just was around her at work.
One of the things that made your mom so wonderful was how much she LOVED Jesus. She really, really wanted to be the very best person she could be and she wanted to love everyone like Jesus loved everyone. Your mom learned that loving people was the greatest gift you could give anyone and she taught me so many different ways to love people. Sometimes she loved people by doing nice things for them, other times she loved people by giving them a special gift, but most of the time she loved people by listening to them. When she listened to them, she would hear all the things they were saying, but she also would hear things they weren't saying. That is a special gift Casey, not everyone can do that! After she would love on people, she would pray for them. That is something that your mom taught me how to do. So many times I would come to her with problems or with questions and she would ask if I wanted to pray about it. Your mom showed me how to look to Jesus for all my needs, but it took me a lot longer to get there...you know what? Your mom NEVER gave up on me.
That is why your mom is one of the best friends anyone could ever imagine. Your mom LOVED to be with people. She was happy and smiling all of the time! She loved to listen to music and watch movies. She wanted to stay updated on all the cool things that teenagers were doing so that she would be able to help her patients (or at least that is what she says...I secretly think she really liked all that stuff!) Your mom loved to pull practical jokes and she loved jokes that went on for a long time between people. One time your mom hid a troll doll on my desk at work and I hid it back at her desk. We shared that joke going back and forth for YEARS! And I wasn't the only one that she would do fun stuff like that with. Your mom knew that it was those little things that helped build a bond between people. If everyone that was friends with your mom would write down every fun memory that they have with your mom, there wouldn't be enough paper in the world!! Even after I didn't see your mom at work every day, she still wanted to be my friend and we talked a lot! We continued to share our lives with each other and get together to laugh and cry, to share stories, and to share pictures. Most of the time she had pictures of YOU to share:) The week after your mom went to be with God we were supposed to go to the movies together and catch up...so I'm going to have to catch a movie myself and "talk" to your mom that way. Casey, I promise that I will always lovingly think of your mom, and I hope that everyone sharing with you will give you just a small glimpse of all the love that your mommy poured into your heart in just 4 short years. I know she did everything she absolutely could so you would know with all your heart that with every ounce of her soul she loved you and your daddy!