Friends and family celebrated Leroy's life in Silver Spring, Md., on Sunday. We also invited you guys to a live chat while it happened. What follows are archived versions of the audio and chat. You can also download the audio by following the link above.
10:40 AM ET | 09-14-2008 | permalink
"Never say with grief, 'he is no more', but rather say with thankfulness 'he was'."
Thank you Laurie and all for the opportunity to celebrate Leroy's life with you.I felt like I was a part of the celebration.
Beautifully done. Thank you.
Very nice. Thank you Discovery, NPR, Laurie, friends and family.
Thank you for sharing this service with us... another installment of lessons from Leroy on how to manage. May they never end.
Dear Laurie,
Thank-you so very much for sharing - your Leroy and the Celebration Of Life.
We miss him too. My thoughts and prayers continue to be with you
To everyone,
Through the tears I am just so humbled by this celebration of Leroy's life...so grateful I made the choice to listen to this blog, one day, knowing little how this man, Leroy Sievers, would enrich my life. And thank you Laurie Hirth for representing Leroy and Laurie's Army so eloquently and with such heart. Love, Grahan from Sag Harbor. September 14th 2008: A Sunday I will not long forget.
What a moving and tremendous tribute to our friend and hero, Leroy. Every single word of every single story and remembrance reflected the essence of a truly remarkable human being whose presence in this world made such a difference. His integrity, honesty and compassion, his zest for life, his deep love of & devotion to family & friends plus his amazing wit and wisdom were obvious during his life and today in Silver Spring MD. To Laurie and his sisters,nephews, nieces and extended family, please know that we are with you as you mourn the loss of your beloved best friend/soulmate/husband, your dear brother and uncle and family treasure. Thank you for your strength and love to be able to publicly speak about this man who made your family so special. I can't imagine your sadness, your pain, the broken hearts you carry within. I hope that the knowledge that he touched so many people's lives in his 53 years on this planet brings you some comfort and peace. He used his gift of writing and telling stories and his goodness & big heart to the max and the lessons of Leroy that were told today will stay with me forever.
Having gone through a similar celebration of the life of my late husband over a decade ago, I still remember the stories told, the laughter and the tears, the joy and the sadness shared, at his memorial service. I hung onto & cherished each & every word on that day and everyday since. Like Laurie told friends and family gathered there today, she felt his presence in that room. But since it was a day to celebrate Leroy, didn't you expect him to walk in and join the "party"?! The silence and permanence of death are overwhelming. Still, 10 years later, what I wouldn't give to see and embrace my best friend and the love of my life---but I don't think I would ever be able to let him go. Slowly, over the span of weeks, months and years, the sadness will be softer, the longing and ache less and you will feel his love and presence in every cell of your being. Thank you for sharing Leroy with us, dear Laurie. He will never be forgotten and I will never forget you. I hope that you have the time and energy to continue telling your story on the NPR blog. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who spoke today, to NPR, the Discovery Channel, Ted Koppel, Eve E and to everyone who made this blog possible, including the readers and their comments. Love and hugs to Laurie, Leroy's family, his close friends and to everyone who loved and cherished Leroy Sievers from Nancy B in Waukesha WI
Thank you, thank you, NPR - I know you have limited resources.
Thank you, Laurie and the Sievers' family for sharing this with all of us. I can imagine that in most families having tons of strangers listen to your loved one's memorial service would be very intrusive.
Sorry I missed it. I am sure Leroy would have appreciated where I was at 2pm today: buying a Halloween costume for my daughter and her best friend. So I was honoring Leroy in another way!
Dear Laurie,
I have just listened (in replay, as I was traveling during the live broadcast) to the exquisite, extraordinarily moving fare-thee-well and celebration of Leroy's life. I am moved beyond tears and smiles to incorporate "Leroy's Lessons" into the core of my being. What an amazing human being; what a great heart; and what a marvelous spirit.
And you, dear Laurie ... All the same could and should be said of YOU. Hearing your voice (and the heart-rendering voices of his friends, family and physicians, as well) moved my heart and soul. What a uniquely beautiful and strong relationship/friendship/love you shared and nurtured together, and extended to so many, many others.
Thank you for sharing the great gifts of Leroy on this day and for including us in this remarkable celebration of his life so vibrantly and appreciatively LIVED. Thank you, too, for the sparkling gem that you are. We are all better people for having the opportunity to walk this path, first with Leroy, and now with you.
I pray for your ongoing communion with Leroy through your beautiful memories and with every beat of your heart. May you continue to refresh your heart with the great joys of life, as you know Leroy would want for you.
With great affection and deepest appreciation, always,
I downloaded this to my IPod and finally was able to listen late last night. I was so touched by what everyone had to say. It was wonderful hearing a little bit more of the personal side of a man that so many of us grew to love and look up to and find strength in.
Laurie, you were so brave and so strong. You and Leroy were so lucky to have shared such a loving bond. I know how much it hurts to have lost the man of your dreams. It was a beautiful celebration and thank you for allowing me to be a part of it.
This has been an incredible journey for me and I am so thankful that this blog site has been here to guide me along the way.
Leroy, Neil, Terry, Burge, Don, John and so many others will never be forgotten. Their memories will live on forever. Life is for living and it is now up to us to keep doing what Leroy asked of us, "do something optimistic today, tell yourself you have a future, put off something you can do today and do it tomorrow". Just remember to live....
Much love and continued prayers!
Thank you Leroy......
I just finished listening to the memorial, sometimes with my ear up to my laptop, not to miss a single word. The emotions that came through my speakers were very powerful. thank you so much for sharing this intimate and moving celebration of Leroys life.
This blog has been such a support for me. I live alone and when i was in treatment it gave me hope and support and most of all permission to feel what I feel no matter what, to say what I need to say without embarrassment or hesitation. Thank you Leroy for all your support, thank you Laurie for continuing the blog and including this "family" in your time of grief. Thank you also to the comments from all who post here, they have also helped me with my journey.
Thank you
Jenn from Maine
It's awesome to have been able to share in this!! Thank you so much to all who made this possible!! Leroy, You LIVE !
Thank You so much for sharing Leroy's life celebration. It was perfect, beautiful!! I cannot express enough gratitude for his light to me and all who read his blog and walked with him and you Laurie. Tears, Laugher, Hugs, Love and Blessings to you Laurie. Thanks again for sharing . I feel truly honored to have beeen there.
Laurie, Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it possible for all of us to be able to listen to Leroy's memorial service. Everyone's words reinforced what I already felt - that Leroy was a beautiful person - a rare gem. You can't help but miss a person like that but it sounds like he left so many wonderful memories behind, enough to last until you meet again. He was an angel put on this earth to help people and that he did with so much compassion. I, for one, will never forget his lesson. Don't be afraid to live life. Act Accordingly.
And now I have to ask you this. How does someone write a 10-page paper on "The Concept of the Pronoun". Truly amazing.
Absolutely fabulous, thanks.
My brother has started a new site entitled Topic Of Cancer. www.topicofcancer.net . Mr. Sievers; work greatly inspired him.
I appreciate the words Leroy borrowed from the movie the Departed --We're all on our way out, act accordingly.
I learned from cancer as well.
Thank you. What a wonderful sharing of a wonderful life, a life lived to the fullest.
Thank you NPR, thank you to all the friends, family, doctors and especially to Laurie, for including us in this memorial. It took me several days to get up the strength to listen to it, and boy was it great.
Leroy lives among us!
I really enjoyed reading Leroy's blog.
My father passed away from lung cancer
in November 2005. Reading Leroy's
blog gave me a little insight as to
what my dad must have been thinking.
Leroy will be greatly missed.
Dear Laurie,
I SO wanted to be there. Thanks to you I WAS there.
I'll never forget this, and you -- we'll keep an eye on you!
My best, Kathy
A Ted Koppel documentary focuses on his friend Leroy Sievers' "My Cancer" blog and the response it evokes.
A journalist for more than 25 years, Leroy Sievers worked at CBS News, the Discovery Channel, and ABC News, where he was the executive producer of Nightline. He wrote this blog daily until his death in August.
Download Leroy Sievers' radio commentaries and exclusive audio segments in the My Cancer podcast.
If you'd like to write to the My Cancer staff privately, please use our e-mail form.
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