Laura Marie Byrne was born in Burlington Vt on June 8th, 1964. She lived most of her childhood in Essex Junction, Vt, where she attended elementary and high school. As a single mom. she juggled raising a son, working, and attending the University of Vermont which she graduated from in 1988 with a degree in Business. She worked for the Dean of Medicine at the University but left and took a job with Ben and Jerry's. In 2000 she married her husband Rob and settled in to put the tumultuous years of her life behind her. They bought a house in the beautiful countryside of Vermont and prepared to relax and grow old together. Then fate began to deal its hand.

Laura began to experience unusual pain, first in her hands and wrists, and then in other joints in her body. At first she tried to write it off as simply old age, overwork, and stress, but eventually the pain became so great that it forced her to admit that something else was going on. She went to the doctor and was diagnosed with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. This disease quickly progressed to the point of being debilitating. Simple everyday tasks became monumental obstacles and she began to view life through a different lens. It was around this time that Laura began to write about her experiences. Then fate struck again.

In 2004, at the age of 40, Laura went in for a routine surgery and awoke to find that her abdomen had become riddled with the mucinous tumors typical of a rare incurable cancer called Psuedomyxoma Peritonei (PMP). The following years were spent learning, first about her disease, then about navigating the confusing processes of tests and treatments, and finally about herself and how to take a proactive role in her own treatment. During this time she continued to write extensively about her experiences and began working on her Master's Degree through Goddard College, the theme of which was Dealing with Chronic Pain and End of Life Challenges through Self-Reliance. She combined personal experience with extensive research while working towards her thesis, and truly lived her research.

5 years after being diagnosed, Laura succumbed to her disease on August 14, 2009. Her thesis remained unfinished.