The Power of Becoming

My mother became a mother herself when she was barely more than a child, a sophomore in high school. That fact alone tells you everything you need to know about her tenacity. Her early life was marked by great challenges—the fierce battles with addiction and the pain of abusive relationships. For a long time, she was fighting just to survive, struggling in the darkness.

But my mom had a spirit that refused to be extinguished. It was in treatment that she found her faith and found God. And it was there, in the act of rebuilding her life, that she discovered her life’s true calling.

She often spoke of her fascination with a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. She saw her own life mirroring that process—the quiet, challenging time of change, finally emerging into her own amazing self. She believed that just like that caterpillar, we all need love and nurturing to spread our wings.

The Case Manager with a Calling

Laura didn't just walk away from her past; she walked back into it, but this time as a force for good. As a case manager at the Deverox Center, she wasn't just doing a job; she was fulfilling a sacred mission.

She didn’t lecture the people she helped; she understood them. She knew the weight of their struggles because she had carried that weight herself. When she looked into the eyes of someone struggling, she didn't see a diagnosis; she saw a whole person who was "just needing love and nurturing." She saw a butterfly waiting to emerge, and she used her whole life story as a beacon of hope for them.

Finding Peace

In her tireless work, she was giving the world what she had finally found for herself: peace. That peace was made complete when she met Curtis.

Curtis, you were the love of her life and the safe harbor she deserved. You didn’t just accept her past; you cherished the person she had become. You showed her what true, gentle, unconditional love looks like.

Do the Next Right Thing

The constant theme of her life, the simple yet profound philosophy she taught us, was to "do the next right thing." Not to worry about the mistakes of yesterday, or the challenges of tomorrow, but to just focus on the single, good choice right in front of you. That’s how you build a life—one right choice at a time.

Mom, you taught us all how to live with grace, how to own our mistakes, and how to use our own scars as tools to help others heal. We will carry your spirit forward in every act of kindness, every moment of faith, and in every butterfly that reminds us of the beautiful, soaring soul you became.

We love you, Mom. Rest in peace.

Laura passed at the age of 58. Leaving behind her only child, Jennifer Salvus-Robertson, her grandchildren Dominic Plumlee and Aryanna Moore.