This is a letter Ron Salsbury of Underwood, Iowa, wrote to one of the recipients of his wife Lori’s corneas.
My wife Lori has always been a giving person. She had started this as a teenager doing mission work outside the USA in Mexico at the age of 16. She later went to college as a nursing student at the University of Iowa while joining the Iowa National Guard in 1989 as a Combat Medic receiving her training at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
Lori and I were familiar in high school, but never dated until we bumped into one another in 1990 prior to both our deployments to Iraq for the Gulf War. We were engaged to be married before leaving, and as fate would have it, she as a Guardsman and I as active-duty Army, were base camped 200 yards apart from one another; that we call the one in a billion-dollar bet that would never happen again. We got back together after the war when I got out, we dated until were to expect our oldest son, three months later we were married as newlyweds.
We were together for 34 years, and happily married for almost 30 until her passing. She was a wonderful wife, friend, and mother to two boys named Rayce and Rhett, with 12 grandchildren to be proud of. After our marriage, she told me she wanted to be listed as an organ donor to continue helping others. When she changed her drivers license to her new name, she added the donor designation to it. I am glad you are able to benefit from her gift, and hope you are able to see the world and how wonderful it can truly be.
Lori worked for the United States Post Office as a Rural Route Mail Carrier for 30 years before her passing. She was loved by all her customers for her personal service above and beyond that of an average mail carrier. I know this firsthand due to taking care of many of her patrons as my patients in the hospital where I work. They always described her as very nice, caring and always went the extra mile, sometimes literally to deliver packages or mail, especially around Christmas.
November and December were always her busiest time of year, she left for work around 6:30 and would not get home until 7:30 or 8 p.m.
We had a wonderful marriage, and often spoke that we got along 95 percent of the time. But when we were angry at each other, we may not have spoken for a day or two. That’s because we needed time to clear our heads and say what we needed to say without emotions. I loved her Irish Redhead feistiness; she was the real McCoy when it came to that, and I needed a warrior wife to manage my temper at times and give loving support to her gentle Grizzly (teddy) Bear of a man husband.
We always had fun together singing and bobbing our heads in the car traveling, dancing, and shooting guns and our bow and arrows at the archery tournaments. She was one heck of a shot in both firearms and archery. She actually had her own leather holster like a real cowgirl and built her own longbow with a friend of mine. She had won many archery trophies with her longbow. It was a beautiful combination of Brazilian Rosewood and African Tulipwood with a red Bloodwood stripe in between the two, with wavy juniper limb overlays that made her bow stand out.
Lori was my best friend, partner in crime, and we always did things together that kept our love spark burning throughout the years. She always had to ward me off the stores not to be too playful! I miss her dearly, and I am lonely for her kiss and hugs good night, but I am glad to see someone benefited from her gifts of donation.
I wish you the best of luck in enjoying your sight again. I know she was happy to have a procedure where she didn’t have to wear her glasses again. For me that was a great bonus, for it was her blue eyes and smile that stopped my heart and took my breath away when I met up with her at a friend’s house when we began to date. If you wish to remain in contact, you may write anytime and we can go from there.
Ron