Remembering LaVerne: Our History

Our wedding day

2002  We met for the first time on June 3 of this year through a mutual friend, Jan Wynns.  On June 9, her husband, Joe, passed away.  It was my 55th birthday.  I sent her a note of condolence and said I would like to see her again if and when she wanted to.

2003  The next time I saw her was on January 2 on a business trip to Raleigh, as I was still living in Boone at the time. We saw each other more and more often as the year progressed and grew much closer.  In November she had appendicitis and an MRI showed cancer in her left lung.  She had a pneumonectomy in early December and said to me beforehand that if I had any doubts and wanted to leave, now was the time.  I loved her very much at that point and promised to stay with her.

2004  In April, on a break from chemotherapy, we went on our first road trip and L's first cruise.  She was hooked!  After that we took cruises whenever her health and time allowed.  In May we attended a party in Asheville for Wayne Caldwell's first book being published.  When my contract with the Montessori school was up in June, I moved to Raleigh to be with her.  It was a tough transition for both of us and we had some fierce disagreements and some wonderful makeups!  In September we went to the opening of the Native American Museum in Washington, DC and saw a fine show, "Spirit: the 7th Fire" on the mall.  It was a great trip in many ways.

2005  We went to Philadelphia in May to see "Spirit..." for the second time and toured the city as well.  It was another terrific trip.  In December, around her birthday, I gave her a ring and asked her to marry me.  Our love was intense and we wanted to celebrate that with our family and friends.

2006  We were married on January 28th at Unity Church of Raleigh by Reverend Susan Scott-Downs.  Everyone had a lot of fun and many said it was the best wedding they had ever been to.  LaVerne said it was the happiest day of her life and it certainly was one of mine.  We went to the Argonaut Hotel in San Francisco for our honeymoon with a side trip to Monterrey.  

Nick and his girls

LaVerne lounging at the Argonaut

   In April we took a road trip with her dad, Nick, to Savannah to see the 8th Air Force museum.  Nick was a gunner on a bomber during WWII.  He was like a kid in a candy store at the gift shop and that alone made the trip worthwhile.  The trip went well so the three of us went to Ft. Wayne, IN in may to see L's sister, Suzanne and her husband, Dave.    In September we went to London with a side trip to Amsterdam.  In London we saw "The Producers" onstage and were fortunate enough to tour Buckingham Palace, the first time it had ever been open to the public.  The highlight of the trip for LaVerne was a PITA protest outside the palace regarding the bearskin hats worn by the palace guardsmen.  She was by their side in a flash and reaching for her wallet!

2007  In May we took another cruise, probably with her sister Marianne and Lou, and in December we took our longest cruise of 10 days to the Panama Canal.  She was still feeling good and climbed to the top of a fort in Cartegena, Columbia.  She was a trooper for sure!

Lou, Marianne, LaVerne and me

2008  In February we went to Sarasota, FL for the wedding of my niece, Jennifer Sierra.  L got to meet my sisters Barbara and Nancy, their husbands Luis and Randy, as well as a neighbor of the Sierra's, Grace.  L and Grace hit it off like long lost buddies!  Except for some short visits to the condo at the beach, this was our last trip.  With the treatments no longer working and nothing else to try, we called Hospice on September 11.  By then her breathing was labored all the time and she was on oxygen 24/7.  Her spirits were up more than down, and she always showed great courage.  LaVerne passed away on October 10, 2008* at 7:30 pm in our home with me by her side and her sisters Marianne and Lorraine close by.  I had just found a Catholic mass on TV and within a minute, she was gone.
*NOTE:  It's October 13, 2010 and I just realized that I had typed 2010 above as the date of L's passing. 

LaVerne's look of mischief and Nick

Marianne and I became very close over these years, as she was usually there for L's treatments and doctor appointments.  She's truly a sister to me and I treasure her dearly.  We remain close and spend time together whenever we can.  Nick, L's father, is 88 and his health is slowly declining, yet he still has that laugh in his voice and twinkle in his eye, just like LaVerne's.    As I said last year when we put her ashes in the ocean, bon voyage, baby!