PART OF THE FAMILY
Woman Adopts Her Late Best Friend’s 4 Daughters
What would you do for your best friend?
_____________________________ Write your name here and fax the completed puzzle to 860-533-0585, send it via empty delivery box or bring it to the shop and receive 10% off your next order . Limit one per customer. Expires Dec. 31, 2019. Laura and her husband, Rico, already had two daughters of their own, but they both knew they had to be there for the Diamonds. When Liz passed on April 4, 2015, it was a devastating loss for both families, but Laura kept her word. Liz’s daughters — 6, 8, 9 and 12 at the time — moved in with the Ruffinos right away. As the family began the formal This seems like an easy question, but when Laura Ruffino’s best friend, Liz Diamond, was diagnosed with brain cancer, this question took on a whole new meaning. Laura and Liz met as fifth graders in Buffalo, New York, and became true best friends forever. Then, in 2014, Liz was diagnosed with brain cancer. As a single mother of four, Liz’s first concern wasn’t for herself but rather for her daughters. Liz fought hard and remained optimistic, but a day came when she had to ask her best friend for a serious favor. “She said to me, ‘If anything happens to me, I need you to take my kids,’” Laura said in an interview with Totally Buffalo. “I said ‘okay,’ and that was it.”
... continued from Cover of senior clients who would love to do Sunday dinners with their families but aren’t able to put it together anymore. Once the dust settles, I would love to be able to host Sunday dinners at October Kitchen for our clients. We would choose one of our customers to bring in their whole family, and of course, we’d do all the cooking, perhaps using favorite family recipes. It would be an honor to help our customers preserve the memories of Sunday dinner with their families. One of our values at October Kitchen is that our customers are our family. When we nourish them, we’re nourishing our own family members. Expanding to this new space allows us to continue that mission and do it better than ever. I’m thrilled for this next chapter in the October Kitchen story and look forward to what 2020 will bring. adoption process, Laura told the girls she would be their “Earth mom” until they could rejoin their real mom in heaven. Going from a household of four to eight was a rough transition, but the family made it work. Friends and family helped remodel the house so everyone had enough room, a local car dealership donated a van that seats eight and the Ruffino’s two daughters helped make their new sisters feel welcome. “The new normal,” Laura says, reflecting on the big changes. “I never thought we’d get here, but we did. It was a long haul, but we did it. We made it to this place and we are so grateful and thankful and really blessed.” The Ruffino-Diamond family is proof that family is more than blood and that sometimes we really would do anything for our best friend.
SNOWFLAKE STEPHANIE
PAUL PENGUIN REINDEER SLEIGH
ALISON COOKIES FLURRY ORNAMENTS
WINTER WREATH
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