The "Greedy" Voice

Lara, you were so very dear to me

I am touched by all the stories from friends who are able to reflect the essence of Lara and how she affected peoples lives. I am 20 years older than Lara and we had more of a mother-daughter relationship. I am not a climber, but I am the mother of a climber who long ago realized it was just a waste of time to keep yelling "get down from there"! Some people are just born to climb.

I remember a story Lara told me that says so much about who she was from a very early age. As a fairly young girl growing up in West Seattle she would amuse herself by sneaking out of her parent's house. She would climb out her bedroom window onto a tree growing nearby. She would climb across the top limbs of the tree to the roof of the neighboring house where a girlfriend lived. From the roof of the house she could climb through her girlfriend's window and they would play together until such time as they were "busted" or she was able to complete the fete going back the other direction. That was Lara: climbing; seeking out friends; socializing; and sometimes getting into a little trouble.

I don't think I ever had another friend who regularly performed dog imitations using just facial expressions that were so very funny. By doing these dog imitations and her "Greedy" voice, she somehow convinced me I could communicate with Greedy dog and know her inner thoughts, such as: "Your requests to do dog tricks are humiliating and will be ignored" "Oh hi, it's you. Oops, sorry I tried to bite you" "Don't even think about going hiking without me" "Forget that vegan junk, I'll have the lamb."

We spent many holidays together and traveled on family vacations where Lara got to know our extended family over the years. She charmed them all. We talked on the phone regularly, had family dinners out, and she took me to my first Jackie Chan movie. I sleep every night under a blanket she brought from Nepal and gave to me after she hand stitched my initial in the corner. She was a beautiful young woman whose twinkling eyes and dazzling smile will be missed. Her death is a blow to my heart that has left me trembling and sobbing with grief.

Sally Hyde