With a combination of love, joy and sadness, many of Laura’s friends gathered for dinner at Laura’s family home in Sydney to celebrate Laura’s 26th birthday on 9 January 2017. Everyone raised a glass of Laura’s favourite drink, Fanta, as they all paid tribute to their beautiful friend.
A Fanta toast to Laura on her birthday
Laura’s friend, Kate, told the story of how she first became aware of Laura’s love of Fanta, a drink which is generally considered suitable for children and not the drink of choice of a young university student! Architecture students are known to work day and night on designs and assignments, and after a particularly long night, some of the students went to McDonalds. Laura, never having been one to worry about peer pressure, confidently ordered a happy meal with chicken nuggets and a Fanta. Laura was completely unfazed by the laughter of her friends who apparently hadn’t placed that particular order themselves since they were about 6 years old.
The Fanta shared by family and friends on Laura’s birthday was a reminder of Laura’s completely unique and delightful personality and the fun she had and shared with us all.
A mountaintop champagne toast to Laura
On the other side of the world, Laura's childhood friend Natalia made a toast to her lifelong friend from the top of a mountain. Natalia lives in Big White Ski Resort in British Columbia, Canada, and hiked to a secret scenic area called "The Knoll" to share champagne with friends.
Natalia explained that she felt incredibly close to Laura on the morning of her birthday: "I woke up and it was so hideously cloudy in the mountain village, where I live. I was so upset as I knew it wouldn't be a good day to do the mountain hike that we'd planned. But then I checked the mountain webcams and it was beautifully clear up top - the cloud layer was only hovering around the Village! This very rarely happens and just felt like the most perfect sign to go and celebrate Laura's birthday on top of the mountain."
Natalia and her friends had a picnic with their champagne and talked about the memories of those they had loved and lost, while a candle burned on top of the snow in a tribute to Laura.
Natalia with her tribute candle to Laura on the top of the mountain
Thank you to everyone who took some time on the 9th January to share a birthday wish with Laura. We know that everyone missed her and continues to love her, and we hope that they will continue to do so for many years to come.
- The Stop Sarcoma team