{"id":5419,"date":"2020-06-28T09:00:16","date_gmt":"2020-06-28T14:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5419"},"modified":"2020-04-19T15:46:57","modified_gmt":"2020-04-19T20:46:57","slug":"remembering-a-friend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5419","title":{"rendered":"Memories of a Dear Friend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026<\/em>..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

My\nfriend Lori has been gone a while now but I think of her often. When I think of\nLori, I think of laughter, all kinds of flowers, shoes and purses, teddy bears,\nher boys, beanie babies, reading books, and diet coke. Lori loved to talk to\npeople, and her trusty cell phone was by her side until the end. Lilac was her\nfavorite color, but almost any shade of purple would do. Soft purple hues were\non her sheets, pillows, clothes\u2014everywhere!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lori\nhad the keenest sense of direction of any person I\u2019ve ever known\u2014male or\nfemale. I have none! When we went someplace I\u2019d drive and Lori would direct. That\nway we would each have control over something. We were both strong-willed, so\nwe called ourselves the \u201cbossy broads.\u201d I\u2019m not really a \u201cdo lunch\u201d kind of\nperson, but Lori was. So we\u2019d lunch at these out of the way places that she\nknew 500 different ways to get to. We\u2019d fight about who would pay the tab. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was\nwith Lori the day she found out she had ovarian cancer. Our hopes were high. Hers\nwas not an aggressive cancer, and with chemotherapy the doctor was 90% sure\nthey could rid her body of the dreaded disease and it would not return. Even\nwith those great odds, chemo was not easy. There was the guilt over feeling\nangry, but it was momentary, for Lori was one of the most positive people I\u2019ve\never known. Her trust in God never waned. The question of \u201cWhy me?\u201d quickly\ndissolved into \u201cWhy not me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nmonths of chemo, Lori lost her hair. This may not sound like much, but when a\nwoman brushes her hair and handfuls come out, it can be very traumatic. We had\nour own little \u201ctherapy\u201d the night before each major chemo treatment. We\u2019d go\nsee a funny movie and feast on buttered popcorn. Finally, chemo ended. Lori was\nready to rebuild her life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwas with Lori the day she found out her cancer had returned. The medical\nprofession was puzzled. Hers was a non-aggressive cancer. How could it return? Surgery\nand more chemo were prescribed. The second round of chemo didn\u2019t go well. She\nwas allergic to the drug they wanted to use\u2014the one with the best track record.\nThey substituted others. The cancer kept growing. The doctors remained baffled.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nwas with Lori the day doctors released her from care. They could do nothing\nmore for her. She searched for alternative methods but nothing seemed to help. She\nkept her receptionist job at Los Gatos Christian Church for as long as she\ncould. It gave her a reason to get out and about. Our lunches and movies became\nfewer. Eventually, she was house bound and then virtually bedridden. Hospice workers\nand nurses would come a couple of times a week. I\u2019d call her often and\nsometimes come to visit her on my way to work. I\u2019d bring her a blue Slurpee, Jamba\nJuice, or some little something she was craving. She became weaker and weaker. As\nI hugged her, all I could feel were the bones of a once robust body. In her\nfrailness, she held me tight and close. She whispered in my ear, \u201cI\u2019m going to\ndie, Barb.\u201d I\u2019d whisper back, \u201cI know.\u201d We\u2019d pray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lori\ndid not die lonely. She had more friends than any person I\u2019ve ever known. I was\njust one of many. If she was in the hospital or at home, her room would be\nfilled with cards, books, flowers, comforters, quilts, stuffed animals, or\npillows people had brought her. One day she even received a bouquet of flowers\nfrom the owners of her local florist shop. She loved people and people loved\nher. She gravitated toward the elderly, the sick, the hurting, the handicapped.\nShe genuinely cared about others. No task was too menial or dirty for her to do\nif someone needed help. God always got the glory. People knew she loved God by\nthe way she lived her life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nhad her up days and down days, but her relationship with God never wavered. Even\nin her darkest hours she never doubted God\u2019s wisdom, love, and gentle hand in\nher life. There might be things she didn\u2019t understand, but she never doubted. I\nwould always leave Lori a little ashamed that my trust in God was not as great\nas hers and very inspired that I knew a \u201creal Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\nmiss Lori, but I know she is with God now. With her keen sense of direction,\nthere is no way she could get lost!    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh Lord, I thank and praise You for the\nfriends You\u2019ve brought into my life. I\u2019ve learned so much from each one of\nthem. What a blessing they are! In sickness or in health, they never cease to\namaze me. Help me be a good friend to others. No matter what I\u2019m going through,\nhelp me always reflect Your glory. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026.. My friend Lori has been gone a while now but I think of her often. When I think of Lori, I think of laughter, all kinds of flowers, shoes and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5419"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}