Leah's Birthday!

Today is Leah's Birthday! Leah, we miss you so so so very much.

First I want to call attention to two posts she wrote regarding her birthday:  "DOB: 7/22/1980" and  "another birthday".

I also want to share with everyone a movie that was the last film Leah saw in the theater, probably the last movie she really got to pay attention to and enjoy. It was in Tucson just a couple of nights before she flew with me back to Rhode Island only days later endeding up in the hospital with the worsening news.

It's a hand-drawn animation called Song of the Sea, the story is based on Celtic foklore. At the time it already had rave reviews and still has held it's amazing 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. 

When the film began we immediately learned that the Mother in the story dies, leaving her 2 young children. I remember us looking at each other and we knew we were both thinking, "ahh crap another cancer movie!". Leah and her family seemed to have a regular knack for accidentally finding ourselves watching a film where a lead character turns out to get cancer, or in this case where one of the parents die. Such movies can take a little warming up to, sometimes with a payoff, overtimes not quite worth the untimely reminder of her own situation when she's seeking distraction.

This particular story is what someone described as having "That interplay of reality and magic makes it the most complex and subtle exploration of grief in a children’s film – perhaps any film full stop – since Pixar’s Up.".

I remember Leah, like me, didn't love love love it like it appears so many do, but she enjoyed the film. If you don't normally watch animations, be patient and give it some time to bring you in.

I honestly have forgotten much of the story-line and will have to watch it again soon! Actually it lullabied me to sleep in the middle, however that's a testament to it's immersive dreamscape. 

 Let me know what you think if you have already or do watch it. You can find it on google play, itunes, youtube, vudu, etc for $4.99 for the HD version, which is recommended because it's so visually striking.

Everyday Hearts

Last year I made a post about a beautiful book created by Jackie, inspired and encouraged by Leah.

http://leahstatus.blogspot.com/2015/06/everyday-hearts.html

From Jackie:

Last year I created a book called "Everyday Hearts" in honor of Leah

With Leah's Birthday coming up in July I thought it would be a good time to release the book again.

  

After Leah was diagnosed with cancer I started finding hearts everywhere. I started seding her texts with photos of the hearts I found. She used to tell me I should make a book with my heart photos. After she passed away I created the book in her memory.

Proceeds from the sale will go to the Elleanah and Drew Ploutz Trust Fund.  

"Everyday Hearts" is a 5.75" x 7.75" hardcover book with 20 pages of photos and stories. 

The book sells for $25 and will be gift-wrapped and include a bookmark. Please add $5 if you'd like the book shipped (up to 3 books can be shipped together for $5).

If you're interested in placing an order or have any questions, please email me at: jackiebmassage@cox.net. 

Books will be available the week of June 20th.

Thank you!

Missing Leah

Please be sure to check out Ben's post below this. I didn't want to take away from his post.

Leah passed away a year ago today. She was the best friend I’ve ever had and her friendship changed my life. I am blessed to have many wonderful, supportive, close friends, but Leah stands out. I recently and inadvertently learned that astrologically we saw the world in much the same way and I don’t know what I believe, but that feels right and nice.

She was the most thoughtful person I’ve ever met and I always told her this. She’d go out of her way for people even when she didn’t know them very well. This was how she worked her way into my heart. After only knowing her a couple months and she met my former, unfavorable boyfriend, she discreetly organized a monthly girls group so that I might be surrounded by love and supportive strong women should I decide one day that I deserved more than what I was getting in my relationship. She only confessed her intentions years later after I had done just that and after we had cemented our friendship, then the puzzle pieces  of those get togethers all made sense. 

People’s birthdays were important to her – or rather I should say that celebrating a person was important to her and birthdays were the perfect excuse to make someone feel special. She organized all the birthdays at work, and I know she was just as diligent for friends and family. Even while she was going through chemotherapy and feeling miserable, she would remember birthdays, and ask for a friend’s latest news and feel empathy even when it was small in comparison to her own struggles, and she would see to it that everyone felt comfortable when they visited with her even though it was a difficult time.

She had a hearty, genuine, contagious laugh and she always had a funny story to share. She could turn a simple grocery store trip into a story that would have me throwing back my head to laugh. The stories about her kids were the best. She always had a glimmer in her eye when talking about them. Even during the darkest moments towards the end, she would light up whenever Elly or Drew entered the room. She was an amazing mom and so in love with her kids.

She loved her family so much and would talk about them to the point where you felt like you already knew all the best things about them before you even met them. I love how a friend summed up how Leah put it all out there: “This is who I am and this is my family. Here it is.” Leah made everyone feel included and she opened up to me and let me into her family. It has been a privilege to know such wonderful people and see the supportive, loving network they wove when a family member was in need.

Leah liked peppers and onions on her pizza. I don’t know why, but this is important to me and I can’t have a bell pepper without thinking about her. And as odd as it sounds, same deal with flossing my teeth probably because I saw her floss her teeth every single night for as long as she physically could. If it were me, flossing would probably have been one of the first things I stopped doing, haha.

It was easier to be with her than to not be with her. I was able to come over and help care for Leah frequently during the 2.5 years after her diagnosis and she was so easy to care for because she was so grateful and graceful. Her mom and primary caretaker summed it up perfectly today , and I couldn’t agree more. “I kept expecting her to rage at the injustice of it all, to say “why me?”, or just to break down and scream or cry. She never did any of those things. She never got difficult to care for or to please and she was always grateful. She would weep quietly at times, especially after holding one of the kids. She continued to live and plan things as long as she was able. Leah had the combination of being strong and continuing to live, but also accepting her death.” Everyone is different and handles things differently and it's not right or wrong, but i particularly admired Leah's style in this regard.

It’s taken me a year, numerous drafts , deletions, tears, and giving up, to finally post this. It’s no where near as perfect as I envisioned or wanted it to be to honor her memory. And there is so much that could have been said. But I hope it is a good glimpse.

It's been a year since Leah passed away, on March 23rd, 2015

It's been a year since Leah passed away, on March 23rd, 2015, and yet, still it seems unimaginable she's no longer here. Time has passed slowly, time has passed quickly, but she remains in our hearts forever.

Leah recorded videos of Elly as a baby and uploaded them to her public photobucket account. These have been on the web since she's posted them, perhaps you've come across them if you googled her name. Now all 56 of her videos are combined in a single 36 minute video I've posted on YouTube (see embed below). Together they piece together a beautiful slideshow through Leah's eyes, of experiences with her first child Eliannah. Watch and you will see, what Leah's friend Kim said when viewing these "She was such an amazing mom and so in love with her kids". While the grief of her loss is raw while watching her recordings, you may find it's cathartic and what our cousin Rachael said was nice to "hear Leah's voice and laugh". I think you too will laugh along with Leah, aka Giggleah (her chosen photobucket username). There are of course additional recordings I and others made of Leah, that I'd like to post in the future.

 A Paypal account has been setup for Elly and Drew's trust fund. If you would like to donate, the Paypal button is posted below. There is no need to actually have a Paypal account to donate you can check-out as a guest if you and use any credit card.

 

Elly and Drew Ploutz 

Trust Fund

"Leah's Baskets"

Mary Valentine, has created a non-profit in Leah's memory. She writes:
I started this venture on January 1^st and work with our local hospice in Watertown, NY. We’ve created a new patient “welcome” basket and deliver monthly “thinking of you” baskets to the 8 residents. Since I’m doing this by myself and I work full-time, I’m just concentrating on this Hospice. It’s my hope that by next Christmas I can send holiday baskets to the hospice that cared for Leah in RI.

check it out on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/leahsbaskets1/