Kristy

Exactly four years ago, my best friend of 5 years passed away from a sledding accident. Technically, she passed away early in the morning on December 2, but the accident happened today, and to me, Kristy died today. I lost her today. I don't really care to talk about her death, but I would like to share a few memories I have from the time I knew her because she is so special and I know that through her example she can make an impact on your life and inspire you, even if you never knew her. I want to celebrate her life by sharing a few memories.

• I'll never forget the day we met. First day of Junior High, gym class. In the locker room, all the girls were too scared and embarrassed to shower, but Kristy and I stripped down to our underwear and ran around the showers like crazy people.
• She loved to dance more than anything in the world. Whether it was a school dance or a stake dance, she attended every single one and danced her heart out. 
• She had these jeans with a couple holes in the bum area, but she wouldn't stop wearing them because they were her favorite jeans and she always said they made her butt look cute. So she'd just wear cute underwear and hope no one would notice.
• Our birthday's are one week apart, so we'd always celebrate together. One year we went to the Taylor Swift concert with a few other friends.

• Whenever she got a fortune cookie, she'd put the fortune in the back of her phone by the battery. She believed it would come true if she put it there.
• She wore flip flops year round, even in the snow.
• She had the best taste in music, and she loved singing it as loudly as possible. 
• She always put family first. One time, her mom took us and other friends to the Festival of Trees. We got a little rambunctious, and Kristy's mom told us we needed to calm down. Instead of admitting that we were wrong, we got defensive and left (we were stupid teenagers). But Kristy stayed with her mom. She always put family above friends. Some weekends, I'd call her and want to hang out, but she'd say she wanted to stay home to watch chick flicks and make treats with her mom. She's such an example of priorities.
• She was the epitome of a true friend. On the one year anniversary of my mother's death, I went to school and none of my friends remembered, how could I expect them to? I went through my day, but I didn't tell anyone. I came home from school and found a letter on my porch. It was from Kristy. She remembered. It was the sweetest note. I still don't know how she remembered that day, but she did and it meant the entire world to me. I'll never throw that note away.
• Another time, we went with a few other girls to the mall. We went into a prom dress/wedding dress store and all the girls tried on these gorgeous, fancy dresses. Kristy was definitely one who liked to have fun more than she liked to be serious and get all pretty. She found these matching ugly, fluffy dresses and we tried them on together. They made us laugh so hard.

•  Her favorite movie was Sleepless in Seattle. Her favorite color was purple.
• In 8th grade, we had to do a science project. After spending hours on the project, we got distracted, and took "Charlie's Angels pictures".

• She had a lot of school spirit (even though we were just in high school). She was on Viewmont's swimming team and kicked butt at the 500 meter race. I also have so many memories with her at football games. I'm pretty sure she attended every single football game, even the Junior Varsity ones. (I think she may have just liked the football players, haha.)
• Her favorite food was fruit, mainly watermelon.
• She had a run down old car she named Eddie. We had a weird, close bond with that car. I have countless memories riding around Centerville with the windows rolled down, blasting music, singing at the top of our lungs.

 

• Her favorite song was "Here (in your arms)" by Hellogoodbye, probably because it is a great dancing song. Our song was "Toxic" by Brittney Spears because we found out we were the only two losers left in the world who liked it. 
• She was a camera-obsessed kind of person. She cherished every memory by constantly taking pictures.
• She wore her pearl earrings all the time.
• When we were 15, she made me and a few other friends go trick or treating with her, because she believed you are never too old to trick or treat.
• She was never anyone but herself; no matter who was around. And she was extremely honest and blunt. If she thought you did something stupid, she'd straight up tell you. I loved having a friend like that, it's so refreshing.
• Of all the people I know, she is probably the most spontaneous person I've ever met. If you've ever seen the old TV show "I Love Lucy", she reminds me of Lucy because of her crazy, spontaneous ideas.

Kristy is the kind of person who is impossible to forget. She lived her life to the fullest. In her short, 16 years of life, she experienced more than most people do in an entire lifetime. She held strong to her beliefs, and never let a day go by without doing something unforgettable. There is so much more I could say about her, but this quote from her tells you exactly who she is.

"here's the thing about my high school: you're cool if you sing & are in the musical. I'm neither of those. I can't sing, I can't dance, I have no hand-eye coordination, I just swim. and I don't die my hair, fake bake, rat my hair, wear 10 lbs of make up, obsess over country, or like fry sauce. it just isn't my thing."-Kristy Lee Findley

I love you Kris.