Lisa. . . A Tribute

One of the many truths in my life is the fact that I have been blessed with wonderful sister-in-laws.  All three of my brothers married way up, and I am confident that they themselves would agree with that statement as well. 

On August 12th, one of these women, Lisa Kelly Hatch Forsey passed away at just 46 years of age.  I once heard someone say when a loved one died that they had "graduated"--they had gone to live with our Savior, and had been given the big promotion.  It does ring true, doesn't it?  So many wonderful people seem to be called home way too soon and heaven has certainly received one of these angels in Lisa.

Lisa is the wife of my brother Jerry, who is just 18 months younger than me. They are parents to 4 great kids:  Megan McWhorter (Sean), Melissa, Nathan and McKayla.  Lisa was diagnosed with Glioblastoma (stage 4 brain cancer) 15 months ago.  Unfortunately, her body did not tolerate the chemotherapy regiment well as her white blood counts were usually alarmingly low and she was unable to stick with the preferred protocol.  

Jerry, their children, our large extended family, and her wonderful neighbors and ward/stake members all shared in this difficult journey to the extent outsiders can.  In June, Jerry and his ward family held a "Celebration of Hope" for Lisa.  Here we visited, supported and united as believers in faith, hope and charity.  There was so much love at that event--there really is very real power in love.   Lisa herself wrote some very wise words that were shared with us all: 

"It seems like each person will experience adversity during their lifetime here upon earth.

I know we develop faith and learn as we go along.

I've learned a lot about faith and trusting Heavenly Father,

because I know he knows what's best.

Everyone has adversity, and Heavenly Father is there to help us through it."

When I think of Lisa I will remember kindness, compassion, humble service and love. She never raised her voice, never said a bad word about anyone and was the most patient mother.   She simply lived the premise of the gospel which is to love the Lord and love thy neighbor.  I will always count her as one of the greatest blessings in my life. There is no doubt in my mind that Lisa is with our Savior at this time. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the plan of salvation, the purpose of this earthly experience, and the knowledge of our eternal existence.

I must also say that I have learned so much from my little brother.   I can only imagine how difficult it has been to care for a gravely ill spouse. Jerry has been a great example and is enduring this trial well, even though it is extremely difficult. We love you Jerry and are by your side.

These past 15 months we have learned to serve, to be kinder, more gracious, more loving, more compassionate--to be more like Lisa.  Perhaps that was the plan all along.  Lisa was here to teach us to be more like her.  Now the task is for us to take these lessons to heart.  She fought valiantly with faith and hope, but in the end it was not meant to be. Lisa will be just fine--no doubt she passed the test and has graduated with honors.  

We are so grateful that she is part of our family. 

She is the best of the best and we will miss her immensely.  

We love you Lisa!