A friend recently told me that I need to talk about the fun things that my I remember about my daughter’s life.  I was letting her death define my stories and me.  I thought about this for a while and I think to a certain extent she was right.   I have spoken about her passing and how painful it was and I do remember vividly the final days of what she went through.  And yes, her life was so much more than the sum total of the last few days or even the last two years.

Laura was a fun, bubbly, entertaining child.  She had a knack for mischievousness.  She was always looking to explore.  Even when cautioned about getting hurt she would test to see if I was serious about not letting her do something … yes, she tested me many times.   We had to keep an eye on her because she would find a way of getting into something that she probably shouldn’t be.

One example that comes to mind was when she was about four years old. She was very close with her cousin Letizia. One evening we had company visiting at home and Laura and Letizia were doing their own thing and playing in Laura’s room.    At one point I asked about were they were (it was unusual that I wouldn’t see or hear Laura for that long) and all I got from everyone was ‘I don’t know.’ So we went looking for them and I went straight to Laura’s room and lo and behold, there they were covered in white baby powder.   I mean they had it in the carpet, it was sprayed on the furniture, they had it in their hair, their clothes where white and the room had white dust everywhere.

Apparently they thought this was fun and who was I to deny them this experience? I picked them up one at a time and brought them to the kitchen so that they were on a tiled floor versus carpeting as that really didn’t help the situation since it was covered in powder.  They both sat there with grins on their faces and all I could do was want to take a photo.  This was indeed one of those priceless moments.

The years have taken the edge off the some of the pain of the memories of her passing away and the memories of her beautiful life linger on in my mind.  Her photos really help and mean a lot to me.

I keep a special photo case with as many photos as I could find of her life.  I actually asked for photos back from relatives that I know I had given photos to just so I could have as many parts of her life together in one place.  My next step is to convert them to digital format so I can place them online as a tribute.  Laura was fun to hang around with.  She loved life and loved doing things.  I would spoil her when I had the opportunity and she knew I would always give her what she wanted.  I didn’t mind.

As I am writing this I am remembering so many other stories but suffice to say that Laura lived an exceptional life albeit a very short one.  She took advantage of every minute she had to be a friend and the perfect daughter.  So today on September 13, I celebrate Laura’s life and all the wonderful things she did get a chance to experience.  Her passing is one of the memories I have with me, but her life during those fourteen years will always put a smile on my face.