Immeasurable Grief

As I write these words, I’m aware I am still in shock. Lauren Davis, the beautiful, talented, quick-witted and so very young daughter of Erin Davis, died unexpectedly overnight Sunday. Just hours before, she had celebrated her first Mother’s Day and on Facebook, her smiling face greeted the world as she showed off her coconut necklace. That’s little Colin’s nickname: Coconut.

Lauren and Phil were a little more than a month away from their second wedding anniversary. She had loads of friends and family and lots of love in her life. I loved her too, as the only child of my best friend. Let me tell you what I knew about Lauren.

From the time I met her, when she was about 8 or 9, she was a little ball of confidence and energy, a total ham, and clearly the light of her parents’ lives. Lauren was Erin Davis 2.0, and while she emulated the best qualities of her Mom, she also had a personality all her own. Talented, smart, chatty and wise beyond her years, Lauren didn’t shy away from speaking her mind. After she sang beautifully at her Grandfather’s funeral, I told her I would kill to be able to sing like her. She recoiled in mock horror. “Well there’s no need to go that far!”

Lauren followed her Mom into broadcasting. I used to tease Erin that she needed to try harder to talk her out of it. But Lauren saw how successful her Mom was and wanted that, too. Erin is one in a million and so was Lauren. There was no reason to doubt she’d be successful too.

Lauren and Phil pose with their wedding cake

Her wedding to Phil was gorgeous and full of laughter and love. And then came Colin and the opportunity to take some time to get to know her little coconut and be only a Mom for a while. She was loving it.

What happened to cut short a life with so much promise at 24? We don’t yet know. But at this moment, on the early cusp of a grief so incredibly painful and that should never have been, the cause doesn’t seem to matter as much as the fact that she’s gone at all. A son without his mother. A husband without his wife. Two devoted parents without their shining light of a daughter. I see the news stories on Facebook and the familiar face but it’s not quite sinking in.People call and email and want to know what happened and ask me to pass on their condolences. It doesn’t seem real.

Lauren’s second-last Facebook post was a tribute to her mother for Mother’s Day. Their family never held back on an “I love you” or a hug or an expression of support or empathy. There were no important feelings left unexpressed. They knew they were loved and they loved each other openly. That person who just came to mind? Call them now and tell them you love them. Because you’ll find that it’s not too late for the longest time. And then suddenly without warning, it is.

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