Remembering Laura

Last Sunday, a good friend of mine passed away. At the young age of 30, she died from an infection that her body could not fight. She had Lupus and her immune sysetem was down too far to be able to work against the infection. Her sister, Sarah, asked for memoreis of Laura so that she could compile a book for Laura's children. I thought I would share those memories on my blog.

I have known Laura for as long as I can remember. However, my family moved away from Kearns in 1994 so my contact with her was limited. Although I had not seen Laura very much in the past 15 years, I have so many memories of Laura it is hard to know where to start. My memories of Laura are very vivid. I remember being invited to watch plays at the Noall house put on by all the Noall children. Laura was usually a really funny character. It was at one of these plays that I got my first bee sting. I was about 8 years old and I remember feeling very scared. Laura took care of me and helped me calm down. She made the sting feel better. I felt safe being in the care of Laura.
Laura was a friend to everyone. All of my siblings would truly consider her a friend. My brothers, sister and I always enjoyed the company of Laura. She was so kind and generous to everyone she came in contact with and she always made everyone feel important. My sister, Tori, and I always wanted to be like the Noalls. Laura was always a great friend to us even though she was a few years older than us. She never made us feel like we weren't good enough or old enough to be with her. We were always welcome!
Laura was always very musical. It seemed that she was always singing a song or playing an instrument. My motivation as a piano student was that one day I could be as good at the piano as Laura. That was my goal.
She had a funny sense of humor and loved to make others laugh. Night games were a regular occurrence at the Noalls and Laura was usually the ring leader. We would play outside many nights in the summer and have a great time.
Laura often took Tori and I with her to 7 Eleven to get a Slurpee. We would walk there and play games the whole way. Although the walk to the store was long, it didn't seem that way because Laura would entertain us the entire way there and back.
I remember one night that we planned to sleep outside at our own houses. Before we went to bed, my siblings and I made up a flashlight code so we could communicate with the Noalls. My siblings and I had our flashlight, and Laura and Sarah had their flashlight. We waited up and watched all night for the signals they were flashing to us and we would respond back. It was so fun! Laura made even the silliest things seem fun.
I clearly remember the day that our family moved away from Kearns. I was so sad because I was going to miss the Noall family. Laura let us write on the wall downstairs. The writing said, "Shannon and Tori Edwards were here". That meant a lot to me because it let me know that she would not forget me and my sister just like we are never going to forget her. Laura always had a beautiful spirit about her. I will always remember my good friend Laura.