Meet Lori
Hey, me again…Add mom, grandma, and retired business executive to the speaker, writer, ALS advocate and widow I already told you about. I won't bore you with the rest.
I now catch myself referring to my life in two phases, basically a ‘before and after’ kind of thing. My life had been going pretty much according to plan. Better than plan, actually. And then, without warning, the plan changed, and eventually I realized I had to make a choice. I could stay stuck in a mindset of “why me”, or I could dig deep to see if I had the strength to shift my perspective for what the universe had in store.
Allow me to introduce you to the old Lori…
Hard work and a positive attitude had always paid off for me. With only a high school diploma in hand, I had a successful 35+ year career in commercial real estate investment. I was involved in over $4 billion of transactions, rising to the level of Executive Vice President and Partner at premier national organizations. In a (mostly) man’s business, I was voted by peers as the first female President of the leading commercial real estate organization in Minneapolis, MN with over 800 members. I was awarded with the Women in Business award from the Twin Cities Business Journal, the Women of Power award by Bis Now, and the President's Award from the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP). Always with a desire to help others, I also served on the Board of Directors for over 20 years for various non-profits, among other volunteer work. And to top it all off, I had kids and grandkids that I adored and a husband who was my best friend and soul mate, the absolute love of my life.
Then came September 6, 2018 …
the day my husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Everything I was planning for my future vanished before my eyes, which is when it became clear that we are not always in control. I left my career and became a full-time caregiver that day. He died several months later on May 16, 2020. We were two months into a world-wide pandemic, and I’m a widow. As I was still navigating life without my husband, I had a fall down some stairs on the first anniversary of his passing and broke my entire right side – my femur, hip and humerus. It would be five weeks of hospital beds before I was able to even go home after that fall. We’re talking unbearable grief, in the middle of a pandemic, with a loneliness I had never felt before, topped with the incredible pain of broken bones. Let’s just say that when I hit the bottom of the stairs, I also hit rock bottom. The universe was out to get me, right? Not even close.
Meet the new Lori.
I have learned that I have a superpower: the ability to flip my script and view life now through a different lens. I’ve learned that life doesn’t happen to us, it happens for us. I’ve found acceptance of adversities, and I’ve discovered blessings in all the tough stuff. I had thought I would run away from ALS once Jim died, but instead I am running toward it to help as many people as I can. I have faith in God and in the Universe. And I trust myself and my instincts in a whole new way. I believe that we’re all here for a reason, and we have to find our purpose. I’ve learned that I’m stronger than I thought, and so are you. We hold so much power in our thoughts, and I want to inspire you to believe that too …