I received several pearls of wisdom from Laura as her niece and as her assistant for 5 years.  The one that I use all the time is a simple one.  Just say thank you.  She said it to herself when I would compliment her hair (which was always on point) or if she looked particulalry lovely in a color.  She would say, "Just say thank you Laura."  I was guilty of not being able to take a compliment too, so she would stop me in the middle of a qualification and say, just say Thank You.


Thank YOU Laura for getting me my current job 8 years ago when my family needed it most.  Thank YOU Laura for your love and support.  Thank YOU Laura for teaching me so much in the 5 years I was blessed to work with you.

You are so missed and loved.     
   

Laura was present the day my son Jacob was born.  Here is a picture of them at a SimSci Easter party. He is now 21 years old.  Yikes!!!!

Laura, although she complained about the 110 degree heat and the 4 hour drive, wouldn't have missed my wedding day. 

My husbands favorite memory of Laura was when she dressed up for Halloween one year and took us all by surprise!

Mom was babysitting my two sons one night and when I came home she told me that Ben knew his alphabet. He was just 2. I looked at her incredulously and emphatically stated, "No he doesn't, Mom." (probably including my patented eye roll) After she left, Ben started to play with a kid's laptop that he had. And just out of curiosity I ran him through the paces.."Ok Ben, wheres 'A'.?" (Ok he got that .. lucky guess). "Where's X?" (Let's just get right down to it) And on we went out of order through the entire alphabet, Ben plucking away at the correct keys every time.

I called Mom that night and left her a message. "Yep, alright..that was my bad." She loved to tell that story. It was her discovery. And not just a little egg on my face.