Laura passed away at 4pm today. To all of her friends, who she loved dearly, I am so, so sorry. And you are not alone in your grief. I have a hole in my heart… I cannot even begin to describe. She passed peacefully, as I held her in my arms, kissed her all over and let her know how much she was loved. I was with her from 11am yesterday through to the end today, except about two hours when I came home yesterday to clean up. This is without a doubt the hardest thing I have ever experienced, and my heart is completely shattered.

I will post information regarding her funeral as soon as I find out what is going on. It will be in Piqua, Ohio, probably Saturday. If any of you in the Metro Detroit area want to caravan/carpool together, send me an email at daniel@bottleimp.com.

Also, it might do me some good to meet up with some of her friends some night this week. If you are up for it, let me know.

Don’t worry too much about me. While my grief over losing her is endlessly profound, I am also relieved that she is no longer suffering. I have family and friends around me, and I am doing about as well as someone can given the situation. I also am happy that the last year of her life, Laura discovered real love. I feel fortunate to have been given an opportunity to prove how much I truly loved her. We had an unbreakable bond, and we loved each other deeply. So while her life ended short, it ended with a full heart. I will miss her so very deeply. I already do.

I will post more about everything after I have collected my thoughts and gained a bit more emotional clarity. And thank you so much for all the thoughts, love, and assistance. You are all fantastic people, and it warmed Laura’s heart (i.e., she cried) when I told her how much support from friends we received.