H!GGY August 3, 2022 No Comments
Lara Meiojas Celebration of Life
Lara Meiojas Celebration of Life

I know everyone’s been following Lara’s journey for a while now so this is both a very brief recap for those new to the story and an invitation to everyone.

On June 30, 2022, an oncologist diagnosed Lara with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer after they’d found a golf-ball-sized mass near her pancreas a couple of weeks earlier. By the time we spoke to the oncologist, the tumor had metastasized and had already spread to her liver and her blood and we were told there is no cure and no surgery that can help. Chemo, along with palliative care, is to make her as comfortable as possible for her future days.

My girl is a warrior and I tend to be scrappy myself, but we both knew that this is a dragon we likely cannot slay. Nonetheless, we are balancing joy and heartbreak and we’re trying to smile more than we cry and to sing more than we sob. So when my dad reached out to me offering for his band to play a free benefit in Lara’s honor, I thought it was perfectly in keeping with Lara’s spirit.

He secured the venue (Recess Southern Gastro Pub in Gainesville) and coordinated a date that would work for his band, the pub owner, and members of The Litas Lake Lanier and The Litas Atlanta. A dedicated ride proved too popular (40+ bikes with no escort is tough to pull off!) but that didn’t stop these ladies from contributing where they could. Several are planning to come out to support Lara and some were able to secure donations from local businesses to be raffled off.

We have items from Whole Being Cafe, Salon Pure Aveda, Gainesville Cycles, Bulldog Bike Law, Frazier’s Harley-Davidson, Casalini Skin & Body, and more offering everything from coffee and swag to hair cuts and styles to synthetic oil changes and helmets. One patron of the coffee shop is even offering a new Apple MacBook Air.

There is no cover charge to come out on Saturday. The show is free. Light appetizers will be provided (a full menu and bar will be available also). Donations and raffle ticket purchases are encouraged, but not required. It is my sincerest hope that if you have the time you’ll come out and have a good time. If you decide to donate or buy tickets, great! (The funds go directly towards Lara’s comfort and expenses, as managed by me on her behalf and I’ll drop some images in the comments on how to donate if you choose to. Several of you have already and it’s simultaneously humbling and uplifting to witness such an outpouring of love for the woman of my dreams.)

Most of all, she and I just want people to have a great time.

I’ve told Lara several times that there are two types of people in the world: there are those who love her, and there are those who just don’t know it yet. If you can’t celebrate in person, please do something special that day in solidarity. I’d love to know what you choose to do. You get extra cool points if you wear purple (the color of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness) that day. Let’s keep driving forward with Lara’s lifelong habit of leaving things better than she found them. I’m certainly in much better shape than how she found me…

I hope I see you Saturday. Celebrate! Please share this, even if you’re not in the area. I’ve found myself reconnecting with a lot of old friends by people sharing these updates. Who knows who else out there would like to know this story while it’s still ongoing?

Thank you and much love to you all!!

Originally shared on Facebook.

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