It has been two years since we lost our beautiful Nori. There is not a day that goes by that we do not think of her and miss her terribly.  At her memorial I read a short letter to her and feel it would be appropriate to add it to her memorial website.

 August 6, 2013
To our lovely daughter,

What do parents say to their daughter who has passed away – words will never explain the feeling of loss and sadness.   We love you so very much and promise to keep your memory in our heart and mind. As a family we will try to have our yearly family vacations remembering you and our family vacation to Hawaii.   

As hard as the last two years have been and as weird as it sounds – as your father I have cherished the time we had together during your illness and during chemotherapy – I learned to appreciate the special woman you have become and how you faced the terrible illness  with grace and humility, courage and dignity.

As a daughter we are so very proud of you. You have exceeded our every expectation. You have a remarkable beautiful personality and an infectious smile. I cannot find a picture of you that does not have that smile.

As a sister, your brothers and sisters adore you – always have. As Emilie says you are her best friend.

As a wife you were exceedingly loving, loyal and devoted to John

As a mother you were the best – we are so sorry you will not see your beautiful children grow up but you have given them a wonderful solid foundation and they will mature into special individuals. We will make sure the children remember they had the greatest mother ever.

We love you and miss you – rest in peace sweetheart 

I happened to be in Utah with my family on Tues when I got the reminder of Nori's birthday.  I was staying at a Buffalo Ranch, and set some quiet time to contemplate the gift of Nori.  As an oncology nurse, I have met many people with cancer but none that bore the difficult emotional burden as gracefully as Nori.  She manifested as the sunset that day.  She is with us in all her beauty, just not corporeally.

Nori's Memorial
Red Butte Gardens, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah

On July 20th, 2014, family and friends gathered at the Red Butte Gardens in Salt Lake City to honor and remember Nori, a year after her passing.

Below please find the memorial agenda with links to all the content:

Glenn Warden – Welcome
Dennis Bartschi – Opening Prayer
Glenn Warden – Wu Hsin Poem
John Moyoli – Talk
Emilie Warden - Poem
Lianna Warden – Birthday Card and Poem
Lynn Lannin – Talk
Open Talk
Glenn Warden – Closing remarks
Nori's Video

Please take a look at some of the pictures from the memorial.

I was blessed to meet Nori near the end of her journey, when she spent too many hours at the hospital getting chemotherapy.  Her only request was to maximize her time with her children, and to arrange her appointments around reading to them. She was special indeed, an angel among us, a rare gem...a jewel, and anyone whose path she crossed cannot deny the gift it was to have known her, if only briefly.  She was LOVE incarnate.  Blessed, that is all I can say.

I was one of the lucky ones to have known Nori. Although it has been many years since we have crossed paths, I was blessed by the wonderful example she has been to her family and friends. I still recall years ago, a trip she took to Idaho with her family. She was only a teenager then, but absolutely mesmerized and bedazzled my friends with her charm and beauty. On more than one occassion they would beg me to introduce them to her. I would always reply, "she is way out of your league, so don't even bother."  Nori, continued to charm and bedazzle all she met throughout her life. We are all better people for having been touched by her spirit and life. Thank you Nori, and may your family continue to be blessed in your absence.

A close group of Nori's family and friends gathered on Sunday, August 4th to celebrate Nori's life in Sanborn Park, Saratoga California.

So those of you not in attendance can feel the sentiment and love that was shared during Nori's service, I've added links below to the pictures, speeches, poems and slideshow.  

First, a panorama picture of the beautiful, peaceful and quintessential California setting beneath the redwoods.  Be sure to use the buttons at the top of the screen to look up into the redwoods.  It was a perfect spot.

The service began with a beautiful introduction from family friend Josh Lannin. 

John spoke with eloquence about the love he and Nori shared and the wonderful children they brought into the world together.  Midway through his speech, John amazed everyone by singing a song he would sing to Nori during her time in ICU last January, 2012:  Parachute (by Train).

Glenn read a lovely poem so appropriate for Nori, the dancer.

Maria and Andrea are Nori's best friends from High School.   They spoke about their long standing  loyal relationship together and how so many of Nori's wonderful attributes can be seen in both of her children.

Lynn is Nori's best friend from college.  She spoke about her favorite characteristics of Nori and how they came together so fully during her 2 years of illness. 

Emilie and Lianna then read a heartfelt poem about sisters.

We closed Nori's service with a slideshow set to music that captures Nori's beauty, grace and spectacular smile.   

Thank you to everyone who attended to share in Nori's celebration.

With love, 
Lynn 

I consider myself extremely blessed to have many wonderful memories of my cousin Nori.  From my earlierst memories onward she was beautiful, kind, and graceful but forever modest. A charming combination the likes of which you seldom find. When I was 12, I went to visit my cousins in Cincinnati, which just happened to coincide with a 4 month stent when I was supposed to wear head gear with my braces. I insisted I needed to wear them, and as embarassing as this could have been for my cousin (girls of such an age) she gracefully introduced me to all her friends and I never once heard a snicker out of anyone. That trip she also gave me the very first tape I ever owned, Police - Greatest Hits. That album remains one of my favorites to this day, and always makes me think of that trip.  

Her genuine kindness perservered over the years, through education, travel, marriage and motherhood and even into the cruelty of cancer. I think I can speak for anyone who has ever known her when I say - she was truly one of a kind, to know her was to love her.

This pic was taken on my birthday in Hawaii, which we found out later, was also National Sibling Day... : )

      Emilie Warden and I attended the same high school in Cincinnati, OH. While our class was very large and there were the usual clustered groups of jocks, goth/art kids, etc., some kind some not, Emilie Warden was known to me as a separate kind of person from the usual group. She was kind and rather quiet and our paths never really crossed much in high school.
      It wasn't until after we graduated from high school Emilie's mom, Nori started working with my mom at the Goddard School. Lives started crossing and family members were met. It was then that I met the radiant sister of Emilie, Nori. I remember my mom asking me if I remembered an Emilie Warden from high school, to which I said yes of course. She went on to explain to me how her mother works with her and we should have dinner with their family at some point. 
      Our mothers established a friendship at work which then extended beyond that. I would describe their friendship as a very good one. A friendship that persists eventhough there are many miles between them from Utah to Ohio. And it was through this bond I was able to establish one with Nori Lei Moyoli. She told me of her travels to India and we talked about indian music and dance which became our initial connection. While the bridge in our families were our mothers, the rest of us went about our lives doing what we needed to do. There would be get togethers occasionally. 
     One summer I decided to fly to San Francisco to see an indian musician and Nori and John opened their home to me for a place to stay during the visit. It was at this time Nori was pregnant with her son. While I too like opening my home to others, I also know not everyone does so it was very special and kind of John and Nori to offer this to me. This was also my first time meeting John. They were great hosts and Nori, being the tough little cookie she was, still went out with me a couple of times including the concert I was there to attend. 
     Nori was always so thoughtful in the way she spoke and you could see the thoughtfulness in the choice of her words before she uttered them. Aside from her physical beauty and grace, this particular practice of word choosing really stuck out to me. She had great emotion without being strictly emotional. She partnered mindfulness with her being. 
      Life then went on and about two years ago my mom informed me about Nori's cancer. And while our lives had been so separate it really was like a punch to the gut. Eventhough our interactions were few, they were humbling and very real. To find people in which you can do this with are few and far between, and hopefully all of us are lucky enough to have at least one person such as her to skip through life with. 
      Events then led to me moving from Cincinnati to Berkeley, CA. And during a visit with my boyfriend before my move, I drove out to Santa Clara to see Nori while she was ill. She had the same great smile, beauty and mindfulness with words. So our families created a story together through sharing their experiences and I was ever so fortunate to have been part of that story which led me to meeting her and getting to know her, even if it was for a short while. Because like I said it's a rare and wonderful thing if you are lucky enough to meet people like her, and I did and that's what matters more to me than anything.

P.S.- John, I will be forever grateful to you and Nori for letting me stay with you guys that summer and my heart goes out to you and your family. Much love!! 
 
         The Warden family: Nori I will be forever grateful to you for having a wonderful relationship with my mom, and privelaging us to get to know your beautiful family!! Much love!!

Nori was one of the most inspiring and creative people I have ever known. She was my best buddy in ceramic classes and we had the most fun ever. In our class year of Advanced ceramic we worked constantly to gether in the studio preparing for our BFA show. Nori made the most wonderful pots and handmade table. She gave me two of those precious little pots and they have been a couple of my prized possessions ever since. I feel so lucky to have these. I look at them and always think about her.
Oh , we tortured the ceramic studio by constantly playing Salsa. One of our favorites was la princesa de la Salsa, la unica, la India.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfDn3uqV7BQ&feature=share