Eulogy  

"It’s not the amount of years in a life, it’s the amount of life in those years". It’s the sort of thing we say when someone is taken from us too soon, but in Leslie’s case it was so very true. Leslie lived more in her 49 years than most people do in 100. Leslie loved to celebrate any occasion, she patented the "birth-MONTH" celebration. She loved the holidays, especially Christmas. Every year from the beginning of October to the end of December, our house would be wall-to-wall with decorations - "throwing up Christmas" she would say. The reason Leslie loved celebrations was because Leslie loved people. Holidays are for family and EVERYONE was family to Leslie. Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve were times for family and the house was always full. She always invited some "strays" too – people who didn’t have any family near.  Leslie always made everyone feel welcome. Serving others was one of her greatest joys.

Leslie was a wonderful mother to our children. She loved them and disciplined them. She taught them right from wrong, she instilled a strong work ethic in them. She attended every function they were in, often attending multiple performances of the same event. She was so proud of them in everything they did, so proud to see them grow into good and Godly adults. Jenna and Jeff were not finished needing their mother, but she equipped them to go on without her. Leslie LOVED being a "Nani" to her precious Tyler. As much as anything else, Tyler was the source of her eternal optimism. She gave him her love for learning and for books and she gave him an un-ending supply of love.

As hard as it is for me to say, cancer made Leslie a better person. It gave her a sense of urgency to encourage others, to foster relationships between people, and to share the love of God. Many of you read her Blog every day and felt her radiant optimism. That optimism was real, it was not just putting on a brave face for the world to see. That is not to say that were not hard times, but Leslie always held on to hope – she knew that God was in control and that He had a plan for her life. She was overjoyed to see the small and the large differences in people’s lives because of her experiences. She said that her tribulations were all worth it if it brought people closer to God and to each other. Leslie frequently told me how happy she was that God allowed her to see the "little miracles" that He brought about through her.

Leslie never lost hope. She slipped painlessly from this world knowing full well it was part of God’s plan. I have absolutely no doubt that Leslie is resting safely in the arms of Jesus, that He has given her a full explanation of why this had to happen, and she is completely satisfied with His reasons. Leslie was able to catch glimpses of truth before and now her understanding is complete, just as ours will be someday.

Leslie was my best friend - I was complete in her. It sounds cliché, but Leslie and I never argued. We learned very early in marriage that the secret to happiness was to put each other first. She made me the man I am today, she is my hero, my soulmate, my encourager, my PR agent, my beautiful angel. Leslie is the love of my life.

I love you Babe.

Mike

Thanks to all who came, who offered condolences, who offered love and prayers.  Thank you to all those who were unable to attend, we could feel your love across the miles.  A great big thank you to all those who helped with the lunch - it was absolutely perfect.  All those who planned, decorated, cooked, cleaned, and did tasks I didn't even know about.  Thank you so much

We started this blog as a method to communicate Leslie's progress to all of her family and friends.  But Leslie soon saw it as an opportunity to reach out to people, to help encourage them, to pray for them, to love them.  And, as I have told you before, she took that seriously.  This blog was her ministry and no one could replace her in that.  Tomorrow I will make the last blog post, my eulogy to her.

Those of you who knew Leslie through the blog knew that cards were important to her.  During her first round of chemotherapy, she was so amazed by the fact that a $2 piece of paper, recieved in the mail could make such a difference to a person's spirit.  She resolved to send cards to people and she encouraged you to send cards.  Because, to Leslie, cards were about people and Leslie loved people.

Besides encouragement cards, thank you cards were important to her too.  During her last month of life, Leslie got many "thinking of you" gifts.  Several times she mentioned to me that she was keeping a mental list, she had me get her thank you cards and was planning to write them as soon as she was over this speedbump.  But please know she was so appreciative of your gifts, your cards, your love, your thoughts, and your prayers.  She especially wanted to give a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who organized, worked, and supported the Craft Extravaganza, you have her gratitude and mine too.

After a long and courageous battle with Melanoma, Leslie went peacefully to be with the Lord whom she loved so much on August 18. Born March 26, 1962 in Beech Grove, Indiana - Leslie attended McCabe School and Central Union High School. She worked at Ben Hulse and, most recently, T.L. Waggoner Elementary school where she was loved by children, parents, and co-workers.

There will be someone at Frank Wright prior to the 10 am service so that food can be dropped off.  Frank Wright is at 885 N Imperial Ave in Imperial in case you need to Google directions, the cafeteria is located on the North side of 15th street.  If you have any food questions, please contact Jessica at First Christian Church 352-8300

We will see you Saturday. 

http://m.ivpressonline.com/ivp/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=AbqPBWY8&full=true#display

Thank you so much for all the beautiful comments and rememberances of Leslie.  Thank you for your kind words of support and encouragement.  We are doing OK under the circumstances, we are leaning heavily on each other and are so well supported by others.  I sat down yesterday to write an obituary and eulogy for Leslie, the words flowed so freely but it was very emotional for me.  I hope I never have to do anything that hard again in my life.  I will post the obituary here in a few days and I will post my eulogy and any others after the service.

For those of you who have been reading the Bible in a year and are a bit lost, here is a link to the schedule Leslie was using.

http://www.ewordtoday.com/year/nlt/bjan01.htm

Please catch up if you have fallen behind - not so much for Leslie, but for yourself.

I got to spend the evening with Tyler last night, so bittersweet.

A memorial service will be held for Leslie on Saturday August 27, 10am at Faith Assembly in Imperial.  Lunch will follow at the Fairgrounds - Casa de Manana building.  Main course will be provided, we will have pot-luck for the rest if you want to bring a salad, side-dish, or dessert.  If you have any pot-luck related questions, you can contact Jessica at First Christian Church 760-352-8300.  We anticipate having the Casa de Manana building open prior to the service so you don't have to leave that lime green Jello, carrot, and pineapple salad in the 160 degree car (that is NOT a request for lime green Jello salad).  There will be no graveside service Saturday, it was Leslie's wish to be cremated.  Leslie loved flowers, especially carnations.  If it will make you feel good to send flowers to the service please feel free to do so.  If you like something more permanent, you may made a donation in Leslie's name to the Cancer Resource Center of the Desert http://www.crcdinc.org/donate.php  CRCotD uses money raised locally to pay benefits to local cancer victims with their treatment.  They were very helpful when we needed them.

Your comments have been such a treasure for me, all those sweet memories of Leslie, all the ways she has touched your lives.  Thank you for all who have called, stopped by to visit, brought food, offered to help in any way possible.  I am humbled by the show of great generosity by so many people, some who I don't even know that well.  Thank you to all who participated in the Craft Extravaganza, I'm sure you can imaging how helpful that is now.

Jenna and Jeff have been my anchor, they have kept me from going adrift.  God was very good to us as we ran errands and made arrangements yesterday, everything just fell into place.  We are holding up fair under the circumstances.  I know there is no sorrow in heaven, but I don't want Leslie to see me despondent - so I am trying to keep a positive attitude and even a smile at times.  I have had lots of anxiety over the past few years, it seems strange to say but it has all melted away now that I know Leslie is in the best hands of all.  I miss Leslie terribly and expect I will for a long, long time.  People talk about their spouse being their "better half", Leslie was my better 90%, she will be hard to get over.  Please continue to pray for me and our family, pray for each other and uplift each other.  Leslie's passing has left a large dark spot on this world that needs to be re-lit with the kindness of others.

When Leslie went into the hospital on Saturday, I had no doubt that we would have her treated for a few days and then go home.  After the fluids and steroids kicked in Saturday evening, she had perked up.  We had a nice conversation - it was our last one.  She seemed to get a little worse each day, but I was still optimistic and tried to let that optimism show through on the blog.    By Wednesday, she was answering only yes and no questions and didn't look so good.

Yesterday morning at 5:00, Leslie had a seizure.  They did a CT which showed more tumor growth and swelling.  Dr Calvin (the local neurosurgeon) called Dr Ott (the San Diego neurosurgeon), Dr Ott called me.  Dr Ott said that the tumors were growing too fast and they were not able to control the pressure in Leslie's brain.  Best case scenerio was to transfer her to San Diego where they would do surgery on those tumors and possibly extend her life for a week or 2 with no improvent in the quality of her life - and probably a big decrease in her quality of life.  That really wasn't an option.  We chose to keep her comfortable and allow her to go home to God.  The doctors expected that would take a couple of days, but Leslie had an appointment with God and wasn't to be delayed.  She slipped away calmly, peacefully, painlessly, and surrounded by her family.  She will be grievously missed here on Earth and joyously celebrated in Heaven.

I want you to know that Leslie took this Blog very seriously.  She would spend an hour or two every afternoon writing the Blog for the next day.  She considered it her ministry and she loved every minute of it.  Your comments always meant so much to her, she loved that you committed to read the Bible in a year - many of you whom never had read any of the Bible before.  She loved when you sent cards of encouragement to others, and she appreciated all the cards you sent her.  She loved that you sent her your prayer requests and that you prayed for the requests she posted.  And she prayed for you like crazy.  Leslie kept a small notebook full of categorized prayer requests that she went through every day.

After a quarter of a million hits in 3 1/2 years, the silence of this Blog will be deafening. - Mike

Dr McClay (oncologist) called me today and asked how Leslie was doing.  When she gets out of here and gets better, Yervoy may not be the best choice because she will probably continue to need some steroids.  But a new medicine was just approved (like maybe today) that she may be a candidate for - another glimmer of hope.

PS - There have been some comments about my superhuman strength, remember that I am just doing what any one of you would do in the same situation.  My strength is far from superhuman, in fact it's pretty frail a lot lately.  But Leslie has been a good PR agent for me all these years - convincing you that I am much stronger, much more romantic, and much more handsome than I really am :)

My big hopes of her perking up today have not materialized :(  She is getting plenty of fluids, nurishment, and steroids but so far no big response.  She is a little more awake today, more restless - but less vocal and less focused.  The doctors are still hopefull that the steroids will help reduce the swelling and she will wake up soon.  We have done our part, now it seems it's in God's hands.