Characters

Sixty-one years. That's how long they've been Mr. and Mrs. — so far. They've raised a family, built a home, chased multiple careers, invested in dozens and dozens of hobbies/causes/services/passions. And through it all, they kept their eyes and hearts on each other. As the clock ticks, they hold each other closer and closer, with more tenderness, more gentleness, more grace and patience than ever before. That's the stuff that usually fades when age shows up, but the opposite is true for them. The more they live, the deeper they love. And it's not a stupid, sappy, for appearances' sake love. It's a head-to-toe "though everything else has fallen away, you've been true blue" love. Their mutual respect never stalled out, their desire for  each other never faded, their rhythm, goals, and joys never got out of sync. To be fair, they rarely saw eye-to-eye about how to get from A to B, but always agreed on the ultimate objective. They alway...

Lauren Vassello She's got her own identity. She's got her own name, her own job, her own life. But in my mind, she will always be Lauren's mom. And she made me rethink what it means to be a mother. I was struggling last week to write a tribute about her beautiful 13-year-old daughter who, after battling an extremely rare and aggressive form of cancer, passed away. It was just one year ago that the family had been blind-sided with the devastating diagnosis. I called Stephany and clumsily stumbled through a few awkward, shallow questions. I felt like I was trampling on holy ground. Then I said, "tell me about Lauren." For the next hour I did nothing but type and listen. This super-human mom recounted her daughter's journey from the first phone call from the doctor to her final moments in the hospital, reciting every detail with the driven automation of a machine, the precision of a surgeon, and the energy of a tornado. She seemed to be on a mission to ret...