Happy 44th Birthday Lorissa, We All Still Miss You Dearly.

Not much more than 3 weeks ago was the sad commemoration of the day that Lorissa prematurely left this world. I had elected to mark that occasion with a mood of nostalgia and sentimentality, which culminated in the release of several uncommon photographs that I came into possession of thanks to the trust and generosity of her ex-fiance David Keeter. One of them is the photo displayed above, taken at her sweet 16 birthday party back in 1986, with that same warm and loving smile that caused a substantial chunk of my generation to fall in love with her.

If she were still with us today, she would be 44 years old, and probably either continuing her work in the film industry with maybe some occasional modeling on the side, though she had always wanted to be a school teacher and was interested in working with Kindergarteners had things panned out differently. Per David's own testimony, she was a very nurturing and benevolent soul that was always interested in working with children, and did some volunteer work at a day care back during her time in Melbourne, Florida.

As the effort to bring her killer to justice is ongoing, I am nevertheless reminded that any justice that will be had is just that, justice. While justice is a defining law of how all of us live, it is not life itself, and any hope that we harbor for the restoration of life is not found in justice alone, but in something more. Goodness is not only confined to the nature of our choices, but also in the nature of being, and thus I've come to have a new take on the very concept of a birthday. As in the account of Genesis when God looked upon all that was created and saw that it was good, there is a goodness in the very object of life itself. A birthday is such a joyous time because it marks the addition of something good to the world.

In light of this, any concept of good can only be diminished by its absence, and thus Lorissa's birthday has become something of a time for lamentation for those who cared the most for her. As I write this blog, somewhere over 300 miles south of where I sit is a man sitting alone in the woods with a single candle lit in her memory. In that act of goodness to her memory is also a hope that like the flame flickering in the wind, that at some time, somewhere, the fire of life can be regathered and set alight again. It is with this in mind that I dedicate the following sonnet to both her memory and the man that misses her most.

~Across The Infinite Chasm~

A distance set without a bridge or path

Yet a promise of a way to be kept.

Division is fleeting, no root it hath

Even by the endless sea of tears wept.

What is space but the emissary's road?

What is time but the measure of a word?

Traveling from the messenger's abode,

To the waiting heart by which it is heard.

Be still, the memory of things unsaid

Make way for the light of a moment seized.

Love endures beyond the passing soul's bed

The lost still remembers, the spirit pleased.

A time for mourning, but never for shame

Across The Infinite Chasm, call her name.

Happy 44th Lorissa. Rest In Peace. 

A Tribute to Lorissa on the 5th anniversary of her passing.

November 3rd has taken on a different meaning for many of us in the past 5 years, one that includes a feeling of absence. Somehow things have seemed a bit less bright, a bit less alive since Lorissa left this world, at least to those of us that either knew her or knew of her. But our memory can also be a blessing, depending upon how and what we choose to remember. Normally it would be fitting to mark a celebratory occasion on a person's birthday, but on this particular anniversary of Lorissa's passing, the sentiments of a good friend have inspired me to take this occasion to share some things about this beautiful angel, now missing from this world.

The greatest cliche of any celebrity passing under mysterious circumstances is that he or she came from less than enviable beginnings. But cliches are often the hallmark of lazy minds, ones that opt for the simplest answer rather than the correct one. As the Gospel of John says so truthfully in chapter 7, verse 24, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." Lorissa came from a loving family with two decent, upstanding parents that spared no expense for the future of their children. Originally from West Virginia, they relocated to Columbus, Ohio before Lorissa's birth, and at age 4 they moved to Cincinnati, where her life began to take shape. 

Her mother was particularly interested in the future of her daughter and encouraged her in a broad array of extra-curricular activities. Per her own testimony on her now defunct website, "Even when I was a kid, I knew I wanted to be a model or an actress when I grew up. I was about as rambunctious of a kid as you'd ever see -  it always seemed like I was in the spotlight. In school, I was in the swinging singers. Gymnastics, ballet, and just about every play that I could do." Those with fond memories of active childhoods will no doubt see some parallel in the hectic yet fulfilling younger years described here with their own early days, with both parents looking on with hope and pride. That is the one thing that is usually lost when contemplating the life of any celebrity, the truly human truth behind the surreal appearance of things.

But simply describing with words alone would not do justice to those who remember her so fondly, and to what was the truth behind this spellbinding beauty. Thus it is with the blessing and permission of David Keeter, Lorissa's former fiance and de facto widower, that I now share some pictures of Lorissa's life, both inside and outside the purview of her career. All of these were given to David by Lorissa at some point during their 16 year long friendship, and I was afforded the opportunity to make my own copies when I interviewed him back in 2013, and I kept the surrounding table and scenery beneath the pictures to keep a sense of that time within them.

An original of one of Lorissa's many modeling shoots, taken in the late 1990s,

highlighting her dual nature of innocence and allure.

 

 

 

A promotional photograph for her 1995 film Lapdancing,

showcasing more of her innocent and naive side.

 

 

 

Another late 90s shoot, a little known fact is that Lorissa actually had a brief stint 

in Catholic School, though she was originally raised a Baptist.

Taken on the set of Stormswept with fellow actress and friend Julie Hughes, at

 some point between 1992 and 1994, drinking the same milks featured in the film.

 

Picture from the Aloha Motel in South Carolina near Myrtle Beach, 

I can't recall the exact time, but not long after she won that first Bikini contest in 1987.

 

 

 

Another photo taken at Myrtle beach, even in the early days Lorissa was

a master at striking a pose and a blessing to her surroundings.

 

 

 

One of Lorissa's iconic photos with her signature and a cute little message
for David in the upper left-hand corner. She loved him dearly.

Lorissa's sweet sixteen birthday card,
notice the smile and iconic 80s hair, absolutely priceless.

 

I honestly can't remember when or where this was taken, perhaps David can

remind me at some point, but the beauty speaks for itself.

 

Somewhere down in southern Virginia a decent, upstanding man who was wronged by this nation and this world is remembering Lorissa in his own way. I had intended to compose this entry solely as a tribute to her, but my thoughts also drift back to him. I have come to curse this day for what it represents, but I can't even begin to imagine the feeling of loss that he has experienced, having everything he could have ever wanted out of life and being rendered powerless as it was all taken away from him. To this day he still blames himself for what happened, in spite of being the only man in her life to do right by her with no expectation of reward after her parents had passed.

This story is a sad one, but there is one silver-lining to be enjoyed in this world, and that is our memory. It is what defines us, it is what tells us who we are, where we are, and where we should go in the future. I mourn for David's loss, for the loss experienced by the rest of Lorissa's family, but at the same time I am thankful. Thankful to know David, to know Lorissa's story (despite it's tragic end), and thankful that though I never met her, I have known of her. And with all this knowledge, my perspective on my own pursuit of the Christian hope has been augmented with the hope that she sees all of us, and is touched by our memories of her.