Our Angel Lauren LOVED Valentines Day . . .
Being the ‘master of love’ that she is - she really cherished opportunities to say “I love you” and to celebrate / be grateful for the love in her life. In her honor, and doing our best to live her legacy, we opted to make our ‘thank you’ notes a Valentine.
Happy Valentines Day!! from our family to yours.
Many, many thanks for the gestures of love and support our family has received. To those who have sought to ease our burden, we are most grateful. We’ve been blessed by the visits, cards, e-mails, thoughts, kind words, and prayers offered in our behalf. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the donations to two of her three favorite charities, as well as the other donations and gifts to bring us cheer, and give us comfort.
Not going to lie -- this is difficult – a torture we wouldn’t wish on anyone. Life just isn’t as bright without her smile (even if it was masking pain) and her incredible sense of humor (which she kept throughout her life.) We really miss her and just wish there could have been an alternate story.
But each and every time (which is often) that the pain or sadness seems to become unbearable, we are reminded that for the “hole” to be this big – we had to have been given a mighty gift in the first place. To experience so much grief, meant we experienced so much love. To know such intense sadness means we have experienced intense happiness. So, to only dwell on how much it hurts seems simply ungrateful. Her life is a profound and Divine gift and we are indeed grateful for the honor to be her family. So, in honor of the gift, and in a spirit of the gratitude we are blessed to feel, we do our best to smile through the tears. And, we rejoice that such a rare and wonderful gift is an eternal one. Forever. That’s so much better than temporary. So, a new family motto is:
Our pain is temporary. Our joy is forever..
What a remarkable and loving Father in Heaven who granted us this gift … the sweet and beautiful opportunity to be a family – and then gave us the ways to make that gift last forever! It’s impossible for us not to feel His love even in such a painful circumstance as this. It’s impossible even in such sadness, for us not to feel happy, knowing what we do.
We’re doing our best to ‘press forward’ because life, as it does, rolls on. There is business to seek, homework to do, and housework is never ending. So, in some ways, ‘normalcy’ – whatever that is – has arrived. Our children are the bravest people we know. Taylor and Carlie returned to school and work the Monday following the funeral.
Sister Sara Webb has also returned to
Lauren, as most know, shunned the spotlight. She didn’t consider herself remarkable in any way. We all, however, know differently. She was remarkable in every way, and inspired by that legacy, we feel a great desire to live deeper. Because of her beautiful life and attitude, we feel the need to do more. We wish to live as she did – and have become dedicated to doing so.
The Make-A-Wish foundation approached Lauren within the first two months of diagnosis and offered her the chance to wish for anything she dearly wanted. Lauren’s first wish, which they sweetly ‘declined’, was to give her wish to another child who ‘needed it more.’ She then spent 2 ½ years considering what she wanted most – and still came up with the same thing – nothing for herself, but a wish that would benefit someone else. After many medical professionals asking her ‘what made her tick’, she determined it would be ok to ‘tell her story.’ So, the wish was made to write a book and have all of the proceeds go to benefit the Make-A-Wish foundation. The book is unfinished, but the author’s desires are well-known, and there are notes to guide us to its completion. And, as she desired, every penny of proceeds will go to benefit the foundation that gave her the opportunity to make the wish. I hope to have it finished by her birthday on May 3.
In the same spirit, and more dedicated to her honor than ever, we are once again making available many opportunities for her story to be of benefit to someone else, particularly the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Primary Children’s
Along with our story, we will continually provide informative links to people and their efforts to support these, and other particular charities, as well as the charities themselves. In doing so, we hope to provide not only motivation and inspiration in honor of our angel daughter and sister, but to provide opportunities for others to share their time, and talents in making a difference as Lauren did. Included in the blog will be links to her t-shirts / sweatshirts (back by popular demand), her paintings, and eventually her book where you can be assured that the proceeds will go to at least one or more of the charities Lauren ‘wished’ to make a difference for. It’s one of many of our efforts to live and love as she did.
“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.”
With love and gratitude –
The David Webb family
David, Melodie, Taylor, Sister Sara, Carlie, and our angel Lauren
