Last night we welcomed home the Lloyd family. When we first moved to Kansas a good friend of mine from when I lived in Salt Lake (Traci Monson) told me her sister also lived in Kansas City. We determined we were in the same ward. I had always heard what great people Rich and Marianne were from Traci but when we moved here we experienced it ourselves. They welcomed us in and helped us to feel comfortable and a part of the area, our ward, etc. They had a big group of friends to their home for dinner Easter Sunday (our first week here) and had us come and get to know people. About two months ago Rich was diagnosed with a GBM brain tumor (you can read more of his story at www.caringbridge.org/visit/richlloyd). He, Marianne and their three sons have been an incredible example of love, strength, humility and faith through this difficult time. After some intense research and meeting with some of the best specialists in the country they decided to do radiation therapy in Salt Lake. They have been there as a family the last seven weeks and last night arrived back home. It was incredible. Red ribbons had been tied on all the trees throughout the neighborhood and about 150 people were there to welcome them home. The streets were lined with people holding signs and red balloons. A fire engine met them at the bottom of the hill and escorted them all the way up, it was awesome! We are so happy to have them back here in Kansas City, their family has been greatly missed. We love them and wish them the best of luck as they continue forward in the fight against cancer. With Rich's strength and determination we expect great things. I hope we can all "Live Rich" (you can read more about it on his site). The picture is of Derek and Josh (Rich and Marianne's youngest) holding one of the signs (with my 2nd grade handwriting), also Traci and Josh (who flew back earlier in the day) while we were waiting for their arrival.
3 comments:
wow that just brought tears to my eyes, I can't even imagine the love they must have felt from everyone. How neat! Keep us posted on his progress.
Sounds like a wonderful homecoming. What a coincidence that you are in Traci's sister's ward. Tell her hi--she looks so cute in that picture! I wish her bro-in-law the best.
wow, i'm all choked up -- that is such a sweet story. i can imagine it must have been pretty neat to be there to welcome them home with everyone else. and i'm sure it gave them a lot of much-needed strength. thanks for sharing!
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