Always leave light on for a friend

I’ve learned that having a light on can be the most comforting thing in the world. And frightening when it’s not lit. Whenever I know that my daughters, ages 26 and 18, are coming home for the weekend, I turn the twinkle lights on the palm tree on the front porch and light candles.

My neighbor and the sister I always wanted of 18 years died last spring from cancer. It was and shall always be a devastating time for my entire family. You see, she just wasn’t a neighbor, she was Lorraine Larrabee, and if you knew her, you’d know what I mean by that.

This woman welcomed my family not into just the neighborhood but mostly into her heart and life for every moment I had the pleasure of living next to her. When she became ill, she called my daughters and me over to her house the afternoon of her diagnosis to tell us what was wrong, what her prognosis was, how she planned on fighting and how we would deal.

But the most important thing she said to us was “when my Tiffany lamp is on at night and one of those darn nurses aren’t here prodding me, it means that I’m awake, so please come sit with me.”

Well, there were many nights that the Tiffany was on, and one of us would go over and just do what she always did for us - be there. Then I realized - it was all because of that Tiffany lamp that I was able to spend time with a sister in trouble.

Soon after Christmas 2006, it was less and less that I would look over and see the light on.

My message to all of you is if you see the light on, be there, and now I’m learning (and I know Lorraine is still helping me!) to leave my own lights on for the people that need me.

Oh, by the way, Lorraine’s Tiffany Lamp is now in my kitchen with the hopes that whomever buys her house, will be able to look over and see her light and now my light of caring.

We love you, Lorraine - and I say that every morning when I go by your Pond Memorial - God Bless You, Beautiful Friend...

Michele Norton, Weymouth