In Memory

Please indulge me with one personal post. I had to watch as my 18-yr-old friend was laid to rest last week. Can I call her a friend? I think so. I laughed with her, listened to her jokes, consoled her more than once as she shed a tear for whatever adolescent reason she had her feelings hurt at the time. She was the first person to 'welcome' Taylor to high school. To make her feel included and unique. That it was okay to be herself, people will still love you anyway. Then I got to know Charly. Then she allowed me to photograph her.

It was so hard to attend a funeral for a child. Yes, she was a young woman, about to embark on life as an adult as she graduated in just a few short months. But she was still a child. We all are to someone. As the mother of a teenager this was a different sort of shock to my system. I'd never known anyone personally her age to have died. Someone so close to my own daughter's age. How could she be there one minute, checking my groceries out at Hy-Vee, teasing my boys and gone the next? The last time she checked me out, I bought 5 boxes of tissues (among other things). How ironic that I would be packing one of those flowered boxes to her funeral only days later to dry my tears. How could I begin to comfort her mother who must be going through the most excruciating pain one could ever know? How could I protect my daughter from the same fate? A senseless accident. No one's fault. Just an unfortunate, senseless accident. As I took the extra time this week to laugh with my own children, to hug them tightly and feel their warm soft skin, smell their clean and shiny hair (and appreciate Tyler's fuzz!), listen to their arguing and for once love the sound of their screaming voices......I made another mental note on my list of questions to ask God someday. My "Why" list.

Charly Marie DeVorss
June 13, 1988 - March 3, 2007