Lori

I lost a friend this weekend. She lost a battle with cancer. I think this was the second time around with it for her. She was too good a person for it to take her down easy. She was kind and open, the first to welcome us into our home in this neighborhood. She was the 'mom' of the neighborhood. All the kids knew they had a safe place to go if they ever needed it. Lori took care of everybody.

She always seemed happy, this neighbor of mine, always positive, always nurturing. She flitted around the neighborhood, doing whatever she could to make life enjoyable for anyone she knew, and even those she didn't know too well. She always had a smile and a kind word, no matter the circumstance, in spite of her illness.

Oddly, maybe it was her battle with cancer that made her so positive. Maybe the first battle showed her how precarious life truly is...that one must do all he or she can to make it worthwhile and fill it up with as much happiness and love as possible, because one can't know when it will be over. She made the best of the time she had, and all who knew her are better for it.

There's a little less brightness in our neighborhood now, a dark place that once was filled with Lori's smile. But, there will be a new bright star out in the sky when these clouds clear, and she'll be smiling over those who miss her most.

I heard a Nanci Griffith song this morning, Angels. It reminded me of Lori:

We’re lifted up by Angels
Higher than the world
Strong enough to leave it
Bound to learn the secret
Angels never hurt
Close enough to heaven
Above the rain
Darkness cannot reach us
Let the Angels teach us
Only love remains
We’re lifted up by Angels
Given wings to fly
Leave the night behind us
Trust the light to find us
Even as we rise
We’re lifted up by Angels

Goodbye, friend. I was blessed to know you. You'll be a wonderful guardian angel.