Miss Laurie

My friend Laurie went to be with the Lord this past week after a courageous battle with Leukemia. She was an amazing lady, a good friend, and one who loved being a mom more than anyone I’d ever met.

Like most of my Saskatchewan friends, I met Laurie through our blogs. She was so welcoming to us when we first arrived in Regina — she invited us to the church she (and soon, we) attended, she introduced us to friends, she recommended the school that we sent Kaylie to, and she babysat my girls for the first month we were there until we could find permanent care for them. She made our adjustment to a new city/province so much easier.

She was on mat leave with her son the first year we were there and I was hoping that when she returned (to teaching) she’d be Kaylie’s teacher (she’d taught grade 3 and Kaylie would be going into grade 3), but since she went back part-time, she was not. I was disappointed, as I knew she was a super-awesome teacher, but she assured me that the teacher Kaylie ended up with was equally as wonderful.

The last time I saw her was right before we left Regina. She made sure that I got to meet her beautiful brand new twin girls, and that I had the blessing of holding one teeny girl in each arm. I was reading through all our Facebook messages back and forth and smiling because she was always so helpful and thoughtful and generous and was probably the only person who could tell me what to do and have me listen. She sent me a big box of boy baby items right before Preston was born and wanted a big fat nothing in return. She always had encouragement for me. Even when she was in the midst of her cancer treatments, she’d comment on my blog or Facebook posts.

I’m heading to Regina this weekend for her funeral, something I wish I did not have to do. When she was first diagnosed back in May, I just assumed she’d make it. That’s what we all want to assume when someone gets that horrid news, right? I rejoiced when she announced that her cancer was in remission and was devastated when she said that her time here on earth was limited. I am clinging to the fact that she knew the Lord and is now healed and with her Maker. She wrote these words, right around the time I first met her:

That being said, death for me is not scary. What is frightening though is the thought of someone experiencing a loss without the hope and understanding of Christ. In the Bible, God never promises that life here on earth will be easy and pain free. It is quite the opposite. He does promise that He will always be with us. He also promises that this “worldly” life is only one part of our living and that our life is eternal. So with earthly pain and suffering, comes the hope of never being alone and this not being the end.

(Thanks for linking to that post, Jill.)

She was greatly loved and she is and will be greatly missed.

Filed under: Faith, NaBloPoMo, friends