"Goodbyes hurt when the story is not finished and the book has been closed."

While your story was supposed to be far from over, you still taught everyone around you lifelong lessons. If only every person could live each day like you did, the world would be a much more colorful, exciting, and beautiful place to live. Gabby, your strength and charismatic personality showed us how to live our lives to the fullest each and every day, along with countless other things. I am eternally blessed to call you my friend, sister, and angel.

Always wear a smile.

Never once did I see you without a smile on your face, and WOW, was that smile beautiful. With just the flash of your smile, you had the ability to light up any room you walked into. Even if it was a cold rainy Monday, you walked into Alpha Phi for chapter wearing your raincoat with the hood fastened tightly around your head so that you could only see your face, but none of your hair. And of course, the most obvious, you wore that contagious smile, despite the depressing weather outside.

Be yourself.

To match your contagious smile came your bubbly personality. The way you carried yourself was truly admirable. You presented yourself in a way that celebrates individualism and self-confidence. Being comfortable in one's own skin is a hard thing to master sometimes, but you did it so flawlessly and gave others the inspiration to do so, as well. All the different parts that made up the unique and beautiful you were one of a kind, just like you were.

Life is precious.

Losing you opened everyone's eyes to the fact that life is the most precious gift. It's unfair that you, who knew just how special this gift really is, don't get to experience it anymore. You've taught everyone to be that much more appreciative of the life they have, because you never know when it could be taken from you. By living each day to the fullest, you embraced the preciousness of life and took full advantage of what it had to offer. Learning how sacred life really is has shown everyone just how valuable and important it is to make the most of the life you have, just like you did.

Don't take tomorrow for granted.

This lesson was an unintentional one. The number of people that have said, "I was thinking about her the other day, I should have texted her then," or "I wish I would have kept in better touch," is upsetting. We all thought we had tomorrow or the next day to do these things, but we often forget that tomorrow isn't guaranteed. Too many of us forget that our world could be turned upside down or even taken from us at a moment's notice. Unfortunately, losing you was the way so many have learned to appreciate every day they are blessed to have.

Don't count the days, make the days count.

While you did not get all the days you so very much deserved, you made the best of the days you did have. You made the most out each situation, and each day as a whole. Every person needs someone like you in their life to show them just show true this saying is.

We will miss you always. We will love you always.

The most obvious thing you taught us was just how much a person can miss another and how important one person is to another. You are one of a kind and absolutely irreplaceable. You will always be that missing piece of the puzzle in our lives that makes everything feel whole again, because some things just aren't the same without you. While we will always have that part of us that eternally misses you, we know that you are also with us, just in a different way. You will be with us when we move into Alpha Phi come August. You will be with us through every hard time, and with us through every joyful time. You will be with us everywhere, in spirit, in our minds, and most importantly, in our hearts. Although we are all experiencing sadness and grief, it is comforting to know we have the most beautiful, strong, and kind-hearted angel. Rest in paradise, Gabby, we love you more than you could have ever known.