Hi All,
Leroy Sievers Memorial Fund
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
Patient and Family Services
100 N. Charles Street
Suite 234
Baltimore, Maryland 21201
My Cancer
August 18, 2008
Thank you ~ What a pleasure ~ This will help us all feel as if we can continue to be a part of Leroy and Laurie's life-flow and legacy, and "pay it forward".
With deepest appreciation,
Kim Forester
I have read Leroy's daily postings for about one year. It has given me a better understanding of the cancer fight. My sister was diagnosed in 2001. Leroy has been very courageous and I thank him for sharing his life with so many of us. He will be missed!
I watched a flower grow today. It didn't seem a beautiful flower but my eyes are very different now. Since my cancer, beauty is a new word as suffering was redefined. Just like listening to Leroy, a stranger to me, but a friendly voice still the same. Courage outside is easy, but listening to his courage inside made me smile. I hope that everyone takes the time to see life bloom infront of you since only we create our path. From his last post, I'll enjoy a drink to Leroy.
Thank you for the opportunity to do someing in memory of Leroy, my friend, who I loved, who I cried with and for and who I laughed with - and never met. He will be sorely missed by so very many.
Love, Jan
I have listened to Leroy Siever's commentaries on NPR for quite some time now. I cannot believe that I will no longer hear his sonorous voice. He was an amazing writer and very courageous. Plus, he was funny! I wish his story had a different ending. I am so grateful that NPR gave us the time we had with him.
My condolences to his wife and all of his friends and family. I can only imagine your sadness.
My unending gratitude to you both...you have made my journey on this path easier.
Although I often find it hard to believe in an afterlife, when I consider the complexity of physical life, I also find it hard to believe that there is not more beyond.
With more than gratitude for all you both have given us...
Thank you Laurie for giving us this information. It will be an honour to do something in Leroy's name.
Thank you for this opportunity to contribute. It helps to ease the pain, just a little.
Dear Laurie,
Thank you for sharing yourself and your husband with us over the past few years. Your and his struggle has inspired me more than I can say. Please don't hesitate to call on the community that you have created. My thoughts are with you during this difficult time. Christine
Dear Laurie,
I agree with Kim "Pay it forward"........it would be an honor.
Thanks for the address. We all seem to feel so impotent right now--this will give us something concrete to do.
Prayers.
Laurie,
Hello from a fellow sister of "Where do these tears come from?". Well, today I know where my tears come from. They showed up today for Leroy, for you and for my mom who I lost in Feb to Leiomyosarcoma. Leroy and his blog helped me learn to cry some of those tears. I, like you, had been so busy helping to fight my mom's cancer, I had forgotten how to cry. It was not a pleasant thing to do, but Leroy led the way with his laughter, brilliance and honesty. I will salute you tonight with a Krispy Kreme doughnut. My heart goes out to you and your family. I wish for you to have some moments of peace around the sadness. Please accept my heart felt condolences.
Melanie H.
Atlanta, GA
I will so miss his rumbling voice, humor and insight over the radio. My sincere sympathy to his family.
PS to all who come here -- I found that we can make our memorial contributions to Johns Hopkins online, if that might be easier for some. Here's the link: http://www.hopkinskimmelcancercenter.org/contributions/index.cfm
Just be sure to note that your donation is in memory of Leroy (it seems surreal to say that), and that it's to be designated for "Patient and Family Services".
In friendship and care,
Kim Forester
Laurie,
You and Leroy have always been a wonderful example of love, commitment, and friendship to me over the years. I still remember meeting him for the first time (Mom was very enthusiastic)-he was funny and warm and wonderful.
It was such a pleasure to see both of you in Maui last year. I will remember drinking maitais in the pool and listening to Leroy's interesting stories of life and politics in DC.
I cannot imagine imagine the pain you must be feeling now, but hope you will find comfort in the memory of your true love and our friend Leroy.
Love,
Dacia
Thank you.
Thanks, Kim Forester, you're very efficient. The donation process could not have been easier.
Thank you for sending the address for the memorial fund. It is an honor to "pay it forward." I am typing through the tears as are thousands more in Leroy's garden. He will not be forgotten.
Thanks, This is a great, great idea and wonderful way to counter anyone that sais "Leroy lost a battle" with anything.
Leroy was victorious with his second life also (his battle with cancer). He more than accomplished his goal of hoping he made a difference. His battle with cancer was no less miraculous that Michael Phelps accomplishments in the Beijing Olympics. It is a "Phelpsian" achievement. Leroy changed the landscape of so many peoples' lives. He may yet change the landscape of improving the chances of cancer survival: who knows maybe even a cure. We MUST think this way if we are to be successful in achieving a cure. Generous gifts to this fund must be accompanied with this hope and the faith that it CAN happen, and in Leroy's memory!! --- I can't stand it when you read in the papers or anything written; that "so and so lost their battle with cancer". It is an exploitively maudlin use of someone's misfortune.
Leroy was victorious over cancer when he said he was at peace and not angry (with it) and that was quite a while ago. Leroy is a winner ---all the way!! This and that "He made a difference" should be his epithet. Graham from Sag Harbor.
I am at a loss for words, I am just very grateful that I can contribute in Leroy's memory.
Anytime we can help fight this battle against this horrible disease, we have not let those that have passed before us die in vain.
Thanks for your efforts Kim, and I could not have said it any better...
"pay it forward"!
When I told my husband I wanted to make a donation right away, he said, "I know how much he (Leroy) meant to you,do it." I hope this fund helps many more people find the courage that Leroy showed us all.
Thank you for posting this and I will certainly make a donation in Leroy's name.
Dearest Laurie, i want you to kow how much Leroy meant to all of us touched by this disease.It seems to take the best of all. I used to read Leroys words to my wife Bella at bedtime, she loved his thoughts and sense of humor,and i think drew strength durring her treatments, finaly i guess like Leroy, she was to tired and needed to leave us,we will see each other again she promised, just live a good life and we will find each other once again, i hope you find some comfort in these words also,one of Bellas regrets was knowing how badly we needed and would miss her, im sure Leroy felt that to. He was a good man and its truly not as good aplace without him, he made a difference, God Bless you on your journey Leroy.
Thank you for the chance to honor Leroy in this way. I do it too for my Dad who died in 1993 of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. If he could have read Leroy's blog, it would have helped him so much.
I am so thankful to have this memorial fund information; had looked today for such guidance in online obits, but not found it there. Thanks Kim for the URL so we can make the donations online!
Talk of the Nation, on NPR, just ran a wonderful tribute to Leroy with his old friend Ted Koppel and Neal Conan. I highly recommend that readers who are feeling deeply the loss of Leroy's daily writings (as I am) tune in. It is beautifully done!
I just now found this blog and am stunned by Leroy's courage and insight. I was gently crying through many of them but when I came to his blog about Spanky, the Bernese Mountain Dog he and Laurie always wanted to have - I lost it. On behalf of my Berner, Zeke I will donate to the fund. He is laying on my feet as I write this, he would have loved to comfort Leroy in his last days, comforting people is what Berners do best.
Thank you Laurie, Maeve & Kim F.
Thank you for the information. I make this donation with great sadness but in honor of a very good man.
Graham from Sag Harbor, huzzah! Leroy was a winner! His honesty and courage spoke to us. His words became larger than life, stronger than cancer. His impact sends waves around the world.
Radha, thanks for the heads up on TOTN.
Kim Forrester, thanks for the link.
Hang on Laurie, we are with you.
Debra Altschiller
Dear Laurie, shocked but not surprised. I was out of town on Sat. but checked my EMail on Sat. eve. Thankyou NPR for your notice and this tremendous coverage of posts. I don't have cancer, but lost my mother when I was 30, a close cousin at 47. As someone else said, coffee won't be the same without reading Leroy's blog. I had trouble going to sleep on Sat. night, just thinking of Leroy's struggle and Laurie's love for him. Thankyou for the donation address at John Hopkin's. Many thankyous for sharing your most private, final painful days. You have helped so many people in their struggle to deal with cancer and life's other strugles. My deep condolences to Laurie, colleagues and friends. I listened to Ted Koppel today, a wonderful tribute. May you find peace in your precious memories. Carol
My sincere sympathy to Laurie and all Leroy's family. I don't know what to say after following Leroy's journey the past few years. In my heart there is a poem. Perhaps it describes a new leg of his journey to the inner world. Allan
He's goin' home
To where he's always been,
To where his heart overflows with Joy
And the Peace welling up within.
He's goin' home,
Where there's nothing left to say;
Just resting in this silent hour,
Walking on to break of day.
Laurie --Leroy was (and still is) the troubadour of Cancer World. He always told the truth in an artful way. We all need our troubadours.
I "met" Leroy several years ago when he wrote the daily e-mail to Nightline fans. It was more than just a listing of the topics for the evening. He shared the thought process behind the stories, and he shared himself. I have been reading his struggle with cancer for a while now. And, my dear cousin, more of a sister than anything, is taking up the serious struggle with cancer. The words in June were, "It's back in my lungs." Leroy's struggle rings in my ears.
I'm so sorry he has now passed on. I have lost a friend, although one I never met. A bright light has been dimmed, but it will never be out. My condolences to all of us, and of course, to his family.
If readers would like to light a candle for Leroy at www.gratefulness.org they are in the "leroy" group. This is a site that someone noted in an earlier post & may be a time to revisit.
Namaste.
Laurie,
Thank you for giving us a chance to help in a tangible way - even though we all hope you feel our love for you and Leroy. Thanks to Kim for giving us an easier way to donate as well.
Laurie, yesterday, after a long afternoon of dealing with family health issues, I went to the supermarket, bought a huge snickers bar, and ate it in my car. And, I thought of you and your donut and smiled - and will continue to do so every time I have a "snickers" moment.
Thank you for teaching me life lessons through your courage, humor and grace. Take care of yourself and know we are with you, one minute at a time.
Thank you for this. My brother, who has colon cancer for the third time will be starting a website called topicofcancer.net . We shot the first videos on Saturday. We will include a link of the website to Leroy's Memorial fund. My brother is a filmaker and you can view the first of his videos on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SostoZs6-DM
i've just found leroy passed away via "1,2,3...by cerre" one of my favourite blogs (she wrote she once was his intern).
as a matter of fact, leroy had gone on my first anniversary of homecoming from hospital. my american friend told me of his blog when i was having a long and tiring radio-chemotherapy last year.
these days, i visit his blog less and less frequently as i've made a recovery. but yet, he didn't escape my mind. surely his fighting spirit will stay on.
it is a sad day for me. and i can imagine how his family and the people who are closer than his readers like me are feeling about their lost.
the only thing i am relieved about is, the battle is over. reloy is in peace at last.
Leroy - you fought the good fight. I wish I had met you in person; your posts were truly inspirational. Thank you for sharing some of your life with us. You will be missed.
Dear Laurie,
I am so sorry for your loss. Leroy was an inspiration to all of us with his insight and positive attitude. Please take care of yourself Leroy would have wanted you to hold on and live life to the fullest
How odd? or is it prophetic? that I should turn on my car radio (I'm never out of the house this early) to hear this story. This story - on this day (8/18) - the grim marker of two years ago that my mother was defeated by pancreatic cancer, nine weeks after diagnosis. Not only did I hear this story on her day of infamy - or mine, for I am still angry - but, in the same hour of her death.
My mother handled her "challenge" with the same grace that Leroy did. She did not, I think, have the same chance at reflection as Leroy had. No. My mother was busy preparing her family for her demise. A shocked husband, a resigned son, and a very angry daughter.
I can't imagine either Leroy's or my mother's internal struggle with this 'beast', nor can I accept the injustice of it. Time does not heal all wounds, it simply dulls the pain - a little.
Although my anger has come to include reluctant acceptance, time has not provided me with the flood of tears in which grief perhaps provides some measure of solace.
I wish Laurie more peace than I have found, more laughter than tears in memories, more grace than I in walking the path of "the one(s)" left behind. Mostly, may I offer a piece of advice that makes my feelings tolerable and cleansing - you have the right to feel whatever you feel at any given moment without regret or guilt. Your feelings are yours alone to feel. They will change at any moment and that's fine too. I won't be angry forever, but for now it's O.K.
All the best to you and yours. -Renee
I've known Leroy for 40 years. We played drums together in the school band, and he lived with my family one summer in the seventies. He was a great man and a good friend, and I shall miss him very much.
Steve
As we all pass on from this life, I have always considered Jack Buck's closing comment to a St Louis Cardinal's baseball broadcast as a fitting farewell. He would simply conclude with, "So long for just awhile."
Thank you for giving us a way to give back a little in honor of one who gave us so much.
My wife is a breast cancer survivor. Leroy's running commentary has been a great morale booster to us, and we mourn him with you and all of his "followers". We recently made a contribution to our local breast cancer clinic and will make one to Leroy's Memorial Fund, too. In the future, all our donations to cancer funds will be in his name.
Laurie-
I checked the blog immediately this A.M.It was wonderful to see you are counting to 3 and still lifting. It is selfish for me to hope you continue the blop but I do. It may help your heart to heal. But most of all do what is best for you
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