The Rainbow Connection

We have lost some people who are particularly dear to us this year.  My sister's mother-in-law, my father's lady friend, and two of our closest friends all passed away this year.  

Our friends Jeff and Pat were gone far too soon, taken from us in the middle of their lives.  While they did not know each other, they died within 24 hours of one another and we learned of their deaths in the space of an hour.  While it's been several months since that fateful day, I'm still struggling to make sense of the fact that these two lovely people are no longer in this world with us.

Then there was Laura.  I never met Laura, but her sister Janet and brother-in-law Keith are friends and former co-workers of mine.  Laura was diagnosed with cervical cancer in February of 2009 at the age of 34, and beat it through rigorous chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  In February 2013 her doctors discovered that her cancer had returned, and that the tumor had collapsed her lung.  She resumed her fight with the same determination that she did the first time around.

As I followed her journey through Janet's and Keith's posts,  I could see that Laura possessed a remarkable lively spirit symbolized by the rainbows that she loved so much.  She embraced life even as she fought for it, surrounded by the unwavering support of her extraordinary family and friends who called themselves the Team Laura Rainbow Warriors.  There were 526 Warriors on their Facebook page.  I was especially struck by the fact that Laura was always smiling, in every picture, no matter what she was enduring at the time.

On November 15, Laura lost her battle, surrounded by her loving family.  She was 37.  I wept when I read this although we had never met.  Laura had instructed her loved ones not to wear black to her funeral;  rather she wanted them to wear colorful clothing as she had to celebrate her life.  On the day of the funeral this rainbow appeared in the sky:

Clearly, Laura was sending some rainbow love back to her Warriors.  

A few weeks later as I was driving on the turnpike to join our family for Thanksgiving in New Jersey, the sun shining on the CDs that sit on the visor created a rainbow on the dashboard. I immediately thought of Laura.  I remembered that our loved ones stay with us, even after they depart this world.

My good friend Debbie, who passed away about seven years ago, is with me whenever I commit or witness a random act of kindness.  Debbie faced a number of challenges in her life and she took what she learned to help others and make the world a better place.  When she died, she asked her beloved husband to share the following with all of us she left behind:

Please do not conduct a Memorial Service. Instead, please remember me by committing a "random act of kindness" for someone in need and asking others who cared  for me to do the same. Thank you for all your love and support during my illness and God bless you all.  Be good to yourself and help others along the way.  Goodbye for now ......Love Debbie

Jeff is with me every time I write this blog because the title "Rip Aches All Over" was his.  As a  parody of my original column title, it was a product of his wit, that sense of humor of his that I loved sharing with him so much.  I can almost feel his appreciation of some of the humor in my blog, and I can still hear his hearty one-of-a-kind laugh in my head.  

Pat lives on in this perfect home of ours.  Pat was a generous woman who took good great care of her own family, and used her talent as a real estate agent to find the perfect homes for many people, including us.  Without her loving assistance, we might not be enjoying this wonderful home of ours today.

So, Laura lives on in rainbows, Debbie in kindnesses, Jeff in my laughter, and Pat in my home. We all have the capacity to live a life that leaves a mark on those who loved us, and sometimes on people we don't even know.