In Loving Memory of
Laura Ann Kimble
November 5, 1968 ~ October 19, 2002


My favorite - photo of Laura when she graduated high school.


Please visit Angel Laura's very special birthday page
by clicking on the words below ~





Laura with my cat pepe.



You're Still Here
Performed by Faith Hill

Thought I saw you today
You were standing in the sun then you turned away
And I knew it couldn't be but my heart believed
Oh it seems like something everyday
How could you be so far away
When you're still here

When I need you you're not hard to find
You're still here
I can see you in my baby's eyes
And I laugh and cry
You're still here

At the dream last night
That you came to me on silver wings of light
I flew away with you in the painted sky
And I woke up wondering what was real
Is it what you see and touch or what you feel
Cause you're still here

Oh you're everywhere we've ever been
You're still here
I heard you in a stranger's laugh
And I hunger on to hear your laugh again
Just once again
Oh...
Thought I saw you today
You were standing in the sun then you turned away
Away




A Little Bit About Laura

Laura Ann Kimble
Born: November 5, 1968
Left for God's Kingdom: October 19, 2002
Married to: Michael A. Kimble, Sr.
They would have been married 8 years two months after she died.


Two children: Julianne, Age 6 and Michael, Jr. Age 2. - She loved her babies more than anything else on this whole earth. Since she was a little girl all she wanted was to be a mommy. That was her dream. Her dream was fulfilled
but unfortunately wasn't meant to last very long.



Laura, Mike and Julianne


LAURA'S STORY

May God walk with me as I retell this nightmare.
My heart and my soul are burning with my pain.


My daughter Laura was my best friend. We did so much together. Whenever she and her husband Mike and children went on vacation, they always took me along with them. And those were the best years of our lives. We were such a close family. Last July we went to the Seashore of New Jersey. Oh, what a time we had. A beautiful week, we laughed so much and we had more fun then we'd ever had before. She told me "mom, just in case I don't make it, I want my children to have wonderful memories." Well, that week while we were away, as the week progressed I could see that she was feeling more ill by the moment. Her surgery for the brain tumor was scheduled for the Tuesday after we returned from the shore. All she started doing towards the end of the week was sleep, even in the middle of a sentence she would fall asleep right in front of us. I had such a terrible foreboding. I just knew in my heart that she was much more ill then any of us realized. We went home on Friday, July 19th, and as we left I had a terrible sense that something awful was going to happen. That was the thread that connected us that made me feel this.


On Tuesday, July 23rd she and her husband Mike left for the hospital at about 5:00 a.m. in the morning, while I stayed home with the children. I said nothing so as not to frighten her or make her worry, but something inside was nagging at me, something terrible that I felt. She was an extremely courageous person with so much stamina and no one would ever have guessed that she was afraid. She was always laughing, even the night before her brain surgery. Just like she was going to have a tooth pulled out. Well, that Tuesday I will never forget. We waited all day at the house, myself, her grandmother and her cousin Chrissie. We waited for any reports from the hospital. Around 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon her husband Mike called and told us that there had been complications during the surgery and that the tumor was wrapped around her Pituitary gland. I knew then that she was not going to stay with us. They removed the entire Pituitary gland. After that, she got more complications then the doctors had ever seen. Strokes, blood clots in her organs, brain swelling, seizures, loss of memory, agitation. She lay in the ICU for two solid months with not much improvement, at least none that I could see. Family and friends surrounded her bed 24 hours a day, seven days a week keeping vigil by her bedside. The doctors gave her a favorable prognosis. I didn't quite understand that at all. They said she would be fine, almost 100% fine. I just couldn't believe what they were saying.


Well, finally she was sent to a Rehabilitation Center. A pretty well known one too. There she started receiving physical and mental therapy, but I didn't see any improvement at all. She barely knew who we were, she was partially paralyzed, she had no emotion or awareness, and she barely knew who her children were. I always knew it wasn't going to be good. Finally, the first time her daddy left her in the care of the nurses, with the promise that they would watch her at all times because she was such an agitated and incoherent patient, her daddy went home to get some much needed sleep. During the night sometime, although we still don't know the circumstances, she fell according the the nurses, three times on her already injured brain. With that she developed a large hematoma and had to have a third brain surgery. They removed part of her skull to allow for the swelling. She was hooked up to life support. By then, the doctor's finally gathered us all together and broke the news to us that her brain stem was totally damaged and there was no hope left. She was going to die. The damage was beyond repair. They finally sent her to our local Hospice where we would all go to watch her die. They disconnected all her life support and she lasted 5 days.


On Saturday morning, October 19, 2002, on the day of her husband's 35th birthday, we all stood helplessly as we watched her draw her last breath. This is my nightmare forever. This is a vision that will stay with me till I die. When her spirit left her body to go with the Lord, my spirit left with her. All that's left now is a shell. I look fine, but nobody's home anymore. I've long since gone. This is Laura's story. A girl who followed the rules she learned in Kindergarten. Hold hands, be friends with everyone, be kind, and help one another. May God hold her close to Him in Heaven until I can be there too. I live each day as though it were my last. Our loss of this Sweet Little Lady, as her daddy called her, has left us scarred for all the days of our lives.


My Angel, sigh.....



Here is a beautiful photo of Laura's memorial site.


This is a more recent photo of Laura's memorial site, from Fall 2004




Mike, Laura and Julianne at Julianne's christening.


Laura never ever thought of herself. All she thought about was everyone around her. One of the most unselfish people I have ever met in my life. She would put herself out for almost anyone. Had plenty of faults too. No angel, this girl of mine, but everyone else thought so. We had our share of squabbling, but never for more than a few minutes, and then it was over. She prayed every night and was a laughing joyful person
that had so much fun in life.


Laura at H.S. graduation.




Laura loved Celine Dion and loved doing crossword puzzles.


She also loved the show "Lord of the Dance" and we went to NYC to see it. She was so excited and loved it so much. She even bought me the video of it.


She and her husband Mike watched the General Hospital soap opera that they had taped during the day,every single night. She had been watching that same soap since she was 14 years old.


At night also she and Mike would go to bed at around 9:00 p.m. and play scrabble in bed or other games that they both enjoyed. They enjoyed all the same things, like two peas in a pod.



Laura absolutely adored all of her grandparents, Her two nanas and two papas.


Laura with her two nanas.



Laura with my dad.




Laura's Papa Angelo, what a handsome man!


Her Papa Angelo died in 1989 and Laura held his hand while he died. She was his favorite of all. He loved her more than anything on the earth. Now they are buried one in front of the other. She took her one nana shopping every week and truly catered to her every need. She did this for everybody. Never thought of herself. I used to tease her and say, when are you going to stop and have some time for you.



Laura and Julianne at Julianne's christening.


Laura had worked as a legal secretary at a law firm in New Jersey and was much loved by all the partners and other employees and had so many friends. She was always
with someone or doing something for someone.



Laura and Julianne




Laura and Mom.





Laura and her dad. He is such a broken man, maybe this will comfort him
to see these photos on the site.


She adored her dad, her brother Stephen and she adored me, her mom.


Laura with her big brother Stephen when she was about 1 year old.


Laura and Mom in November 1994.



Stephen and Laura were very close with one another. He is three years older then she, he will be 38 in November. Her death has left him filled with sorrow and pain.


I miss getting the Yankee Candles that Laura always bought for me. Now I have to buy them for myself, not the same anymore.


We shopped a lot together and spent lots of time together or on the phone. She would call me about 2 to 3 times a day and I would call her at least 1 or 2 times a day. Now how's that for closeness huh!


Laura and Mom on couch when she was 17.


These are some of the lighthouses that I collect in Laura's memory now.





Laura and Julianne.




Two of the few photos we have with Laura and baby Michael alone, he is 2 1/2 now.


Laura spent every minute of her day with her two babies. She never wanted to go out in the evening or have a babysitter because she didn't want to leave her children. She was an extremely devoted mother.


This is a loving gift from my dear friend Cuppy.



Laura, Mike and Julianne.



Laura's husband, Mike, made this model airplane in her memory.




I'm Still Here

Please Mom, do not stand at my grave and weep
I wait at Heaven's Door with all the memories that I keep
Weep not for me, I rest in tranquil places
far beyond what you could know
Be still and hear my voice within your soul

I am not gone, I'm still right here with you
So very close to me and seeing all that you still do
Be not afraid of where I've gone
You cannot even dream of things I know
A Place of beauty I now call home
I see the Face of God with songs of Angels
That sing for me alone

Celebrate the life that I once lived
Keep in your heart the song of love I give
Remember me and keep me close to you
But not with tears, and not because my years were few
But just because I live a life that's new
A place with no more tears or pain or sorrow
Weep not my mom, for we shall meet tomorrow

Written in Memory of Laura Ann Kimble
November 5, 1968 to October 19, 2002
By Laura's Mom





This photo is of Laura's two children, Julianne and baby Michael, and the older boy is Joseph, Stephen's son, Laura's nephew, and Stephanie, who was so very close to Laura's heart. Stephanie and Joey would come out to New Jersey several times a year and stay for a week at a time at their Tete's house. Laura even wanted them to live with her. Stephanie was 10 when Laura died and she took it very badly and the loss for her was tremendous. Joseph was only 8 and I don't think he fully understood the whole concept of it. The four cousins were very close, but now never really see each other anymore with Laura gone.


"Be not afraid, I go before you always, come follow Me and I will give you rest."






A friend can hear a tear drop.



This webpage is created
In Loving Memory of Laura Ann Kimble
on October 10, 2003
Last updated: July 6, 2008
© 2000 - 2008





Maria's Tribute to Christopher



Jason, Our Gift From God




To read the entries in Laura's original guest book,
please click on the image below ~



This set made for Laura with love
By Ann Simmons,
Jason's Mom Forever.
Set made with pictures provided
by Laura's Loving Mom, Ann.
Please do not take.
© 2000 - 2003