November 5, 2021
Today was a wonderful day of reflection. My friend Lorraine was placed in eternal rest. Sad!!! I grew up with Lorraine as she and I, along with my sister, grew up on Canal Street in Montour Falls as the only girls (our age) on the street. I shared so many fun events with Lorraine. We made growing up fun and eventful. Early in the 1950’s, we walked to school together, played together and grew. Both of us were always finding fun things to do and boy did we find them. We played in the snow in the winter, went swimming in creeks in the summer and filled in with so many things throughout the year. We camped in my backyard along with neighbor kids, found arrowheads together down at the end of the street and behind our houses, spent countless nights together as that was the fun thing to do with friends. We were in the same class in school. Lorraine became an icon in high school. She was always kind of invisible, but she was always herself…no matter what. She ran for Senior Class President…AND WON!!!! For those of us who really knew her, she was a plain gal, always supporting the average kid, no frills, no bull…tell-it-like-it-was kind of gal. What you saw was what you got. She was smart!!!! Really smart!!!! Our class was looking for a leader like her!!!! Amazing!!!! Lorraine was always a girl/woman of faith. She always encouraged friends to join MYF (which I did) because it did not matter what church you went to. She became a Catholic and truly lived her faith during her life. We parted for the first time…after high school. She enlisted in the Marine Corps, which in hindsight, was a perfect fit for her. She spent time in Germany and then settled back in the good ole USA in North Carolina. Lorraine always had a love for kids and doing the right thing. She was a teacher…a tough teacher. She decided she wanted to be a mother and adopted two sons. Those years were not always easy for her but she persevered and did the best job she could raising two special boys. Over the years, I was happy to have caught up with her and her family when she visited “back home.” We would converse about our childhood and how great it was and how we were doing at the time. Again…amazing!!! We always kept in touch at Christmastime through cards and a few thoughts. I will miss Lorraine. We were friends…great friends. Rest In Peace Lorraine…I know you are in Heaven and that makes me accept your leaving.
Always in my heart…
Fran Holmes Pierce
