A Tribute to Lori

From the Desk of Cheryl Hauer

Four years ago, my sister, who had been my best friend, confidante, cheerleader and partner in almost everything for sixty years died totally unexpectedly, She was an amazing woman, brilliant, gifted, talented, hilarious, humble and head over heels in love with the Lord. Even though we each had our own circle of friends and strong marriages with husbands we adored, I always knew there was nothing that she and I could not overcome together.

A piece of my heart was ripped away that day and I thought I would never recover. I was right. I don’t think you ever “recover” from the loss of someone you love, someone who has been a part of you in the most intimate and wonderful of ways. You do learn to live with a gaping hole in your soul. You learn to breathe again, to remember without sobbing, you even learn to laugh again. And the platitudes like, “Lori would have wanted…” actually come to sound wise rather than infuriatingly trite. But the pain hasn’t really gone away, the longing to hear her voice or the tendency to reach for the phone to share something with her, something that only she would find as hilarious as I did. And I have finally found joy, knowing that she has seen Him face to face and is engulfed in love and peace that I can’t even imagine. That thought actually, finally, makes me happy. And that’s good. Lori would have wanted it that way.

Blessings and Shalom,

Issachar Community