Two years ago, June 29, 2016, you lost your long fought battle. A battle that no child, teenage, or even adult should have to endure, but you fought through your childhood and teenage years.
No doubt about it, you cross my mind at least once, if not twice, a day. I seem to always wonder who you would be today, what life would be like, how excited you would be to living your dream at Penn State Main Campus.
I know I am not the only one that goes through this struggle of missing you, but this time of the years always seems to get harder to overcome. Your birthday was in May and you would have been 21, hitting the bars with us and having relaxing wine nights.. What I would give to spend those with you. Even just having you in the summertime, driving down those backroads with the windows wide open, just laying in your room complaining about everything going on in life, or just having you to spend late Summer nights with.
There are no amounts of words to express how extremely proud I am for you, for the life you created in 19 short years. You overcame 2 battles of the dreaded c-word, made it onto National Honors Society in high school, gave your heart and soul to the sport you loved so much, and showed everybody in this little town and throughout what the true meaning of strength is.
You had the strength to battle, the strength to play, the strength to overcome. You graduated with us, stood up on that stage and gave the most beautiful speech. You overcame all odds that were stacked against you. You had the best smile, one that could light up a room, and the best curls a girl could ever dream of. You also had the sassiest personality, but the most caring, soft-hearted, and kind soul around.
I would like to tell you: thank you. Thank you for the adventures that we shared, especially our last to Gettysburg. Thank you for showing me how to battle through it all and stand tall in the end. Most importantly, thank you for being my friend, someone I could always know to tell the honest truth when I needed it, someone to be a shoulder to cry on. I could never thank you enough.
I am almost positive that you sit up there in your yellow crocs, just kicking a soccer ball around because "clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose". Rest easy girl, keep shining down on all of us.
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