Goodbye, hello

This is the reading I did at the eulogy. Thanks to so many inspiring words from all of you.

Goodbye, hello…

Lara,

All I can do is smile…imagining YOUR smile. To have known you, and been known by you… under your wing for so long.

I’m not alone in this. Every day I read the stories…

Tales unroll, unfold, spill out. Words tumbling across, each one reinforcing your brightness, your realness, your ability to transcend circumstance and to shine on us all.

I can’t help but quote others, because there are so many… all sharing pieces of the same story… that is your existence.
----
I could read every word written on you… they all ring so true. Here are a few.

From others:

I feel as if she always belonged in the memory of my life somehow. Her engaging smile, her direct way of talking, the sureness of her presence wherever she happened to be were unforgettable traits…. Her determination was unparalleled.
-Rich Bennett

I will always remember the feeling I had when she would walk into the room. I would literally light up inside as I truly adored every fiber of her being: her intensity, her depth, her complexity.
-Jesse Sykes

I’m tempted to say "fearless," but that wouldn’t give her enough credit. More than anyone I know, she simply refused to let her life be defined by what she was afraid of. She rebelled against it, grabbed it by the throat. If you saw her scared, you could guess what her next obsession would be…. She never let fear of upsetting a comfortable rhythm stop her from pursuing her dreams, all of them, all at the same time. She was the freest person I’ve ever known… She lived her life by the dictate "why NOT do it?"
-Forrest Murphy

-"More today than yesterday, less than I will tomorrow"
-Mark Fluegel (song)

I learned from her, but that kind of self-possession you can’t learn – you’ve either got it or you don’t and she had it in spades.
-Paige Eagle

She inspired me to live my life as I want to, without letting other people (or myself) get in the way of my dreams, the way she lived her life.
-Crystal Raymond

You helped me break the bonds of place, of things, and I am better for it.You gave me something invaluable, perhaps without even knowing it: A sense of freedom. You were the free spirit and I was your student.
-Douglas Bothner

He asked if I remembered you. I thought that was funny. You’re a hard one to forget.
-Dave Allan

…Thats the kind of thing that happens when your sponsored by life itself and in my eyes Lara was
-Scott Wicklund

She would always make me feel like I was the smartest person around when in fact she was the brilliant one... She always made me feel like I meant the world to her and I’m sure I did, but so many people meant the world to Lara. She had cast her net wide and somehow managed to make time for everyone.
-Lauren Mollot

You showed me that the status quo was safe, and that safe was a closed window looking out.
-Douglas Bothner

-Get busy moving out from under that kind of limitation.
-Jeremy Littell

She burned brightly - for everyone that met her, their candles burned at both ends too, in just the most brilliant way.
-Jim Schumacher

"You always seemed just a little brighter and stronger after seeing Lara…”
-Alynne Bayard

Peanut butter jelly time
-Dan Aylward

She was classic, sophisticated and a downright burly girly who could do it all with the best of them in every aspect of her life.
-Lauren Mollot

She took me to my first Jackie Chan movie
- Sally Hyde

I know my children will grow up with stories of the legend of Lara as if she was some fairy queen or superhero, which is not far from the truth.
-Tracy Rekart

And yet that girl was so modest; she was never satisfied with what she had accomplished because there was always something more on the horizon that she was pursuing. She was full of life, kinetic, never an idle moment. Her incredible sense of will and discipline was unparalleled; constantly and relentlessly pushing herself beyond her limits.
-Lauren Mollot

----------------------------------------

...from me...

I remember you… the first to offer help, to be there… bad days and good. Shoeless, beautiful brown hands, tender and vulnerable, brilliant and strong. I remember you.

Off I go, your gracious ways tucked under my arm. Your encouraging nudges beside me. And your absolute faith in me…supporting me. You are never gone. Always everywhere… under the trees, around the corner, on the horizon.

...One final quote: (from Dave Allan)

now She is the dawn
The blossoming glow in the eastern sky.
Good morning sunshine,
It’s so good to see you again.