To Show You My Love

Dearest Hope,


When Lori was diagnosed with cancer, her mission was to heal and recover.
My mission was to find a way to tell her how much she is loved. How do you tell someone that when you have known them your whole life? And would words be enough?
This personal mission rapidly evolved into the Live LAF Love fundraiser. If actions do indeed speak louder than words, then this was a perfect way for Lori to realize how much she means to me and to so many others. After months of collecting donations and pictures, I finally created PART I of the Live LAF Love series.
I showed Lori the video over the weekend and I got to sit right next to her as she watched. As the images filled the screen, she personalized it with commentary

-“Did Allie take some of these pictures?”
-“Owen is so cute!”
-“Is that Melissa Kuehl?”
-“Who’s Boylan Pom jacket?”
-“Jeanne’s daughter looks just like her.”
-“Westley is getting so big”
-“She was an Alpha Gam!”
-“Kelly Powers has so many kids”
-“Brian Thiede is so tall”

And as the video went on she said less and cried more. I imagine that as new faces filled the screen it was like each one of them was embracing her and cheering her on. For seven minutes she sat and marinated in everyone’s love. And when it was all done she looked at me and whispered a quiet “Thank You”.

In response to her gratitude, I wanted to say is that there are more people out there thinking of her, wristband or no wristbands. I wanted to tell her that this was truly an effortless project because once I said “It’s for Lori” people gathered quickly to reach out to her. I wanted to tell her that people ask me how she is doing everyday. I wanted to tell her that I love being her sister. But I couldn’t seem to get past my own tears to get the words out and so I hugged her instead. And in that embrace she was my big sister once again as she comforted my tears and let me know everything is going to be okay.