Eulogy for Chrissie

Callie, Tom and the whole family were together last night and we talked about what we wanted to tell you about Chrissie.

First, Thank you for all your love and support. Thank you for loving Chrissie. The whole family is overwhelmed by your kindness. Your presence means so much to us all and it's a comfort to us to know how much you love Chrissie.

How would we describe Chrissie: Beautiful and loving and happy. She was a beautiful person -- both on the inside and the outside. She was filled with love. She was filled with happiness.

So many of you have commented how Chrissie was always smiling. She always tried to make other people happy too. It made her happy if she made people laugh. She was filled with joy. She not only loved people, but she also loved animals, and she had many pets over the years. Some of you know that Callie and Tom used to breed Persian cats. So Chrissie has had literally dozens of cats. She has had dogs, fish and even rabbits.

It is hard to lose someone so young. Even though she was young, however, she lived a full life. There are several ways in which she lived a full life. But there are two main reasons why I say she lived a full life: First, she lived life as whe wanted to live it. She lived life on her own terms. She was energetic, enthusiastic, with a zest for life. She devoured life- eagerly.

I had the privilege of traveling to Florida with Chrissie and my daughter, Sally, the summer before last. Chrissie made everything so much fun. We remember her contagious laughter, her youthful outlook, her playful spirit. She was so great at meeting new people -- and with talking with people. She talked with everyone.

The second way her life was full was because it was full of love. She lived with fun and laughter and happiness and she wanted to share that with others. She spread happiness. She lived a life of love and it's a credit to her parents that Chrissie lived every day of her life knowing that she was loved. She was the center of their universe. And she always will be.

Chrissie was an only child, so her friends were very important to her. You can't talk about Chrissie without talking about the importance of her friends to her. And her friends were not only other teenagers, other classmates and peers -- her friends included the adult parents too and other adults, and the young brothers and sisters of her classmates. She had friends of all ages. She had love for everyone of you. You, her friends, were her family too. She made you feel that way.

And, every day of her life, she told her parents that she loved them. She loved her cousins, Sally, Joe, Tricia, Mike and she told me often every time we talked on the phone. She loved her grandmother, Meme. You all know about Meme, because she talked about her. She told all of us she loved us. It was easy to love Chrissie, because she gave her love so freely. She was not just saying it, she really meant it.

This is a life of Christ-- this is how God wants us to live, by loving. Chrissie did it. People were always happy to see Chrissie. She lit up a room -- you knew she was there because of all the light and happiness she brought with her.

Recently she spent most of her time with her friends, because that is what she wanted to do. Callie and Tom indulged her and shared her with them. Her friends made her happy. She made all of you happy. She was with her friends in the end. She was happy with her friends in the end.

She loved Courtney like a sister. She lived life on her own terms as she wanted it. Always happy with her friends. They recently had their nails done at the mall. They wore their hair the same. If one wore it straight, then the other made hers straight too. If one made her hair curly, then the other had to have curly hair. She had matching rings with some of her friends. She was bonded with her friends. Their tragic deaths have moved us and touched our lives.

Chrissie was an adventurer-- life was an adventure to her -- a series of adventures.

Before cars, and before airplanes, boats and ships were important. They brought foods, spices to be used as preservatives, and other merchandise and goods. The arrival of a ship from across the sea was met with such joy and celebration -- everyone ran down to the docks to meet the boats. Here she comes! The arrival of a ship was a time of great joy -- to welcome home their loved ones. They're home. They're safe.

Because sailing long distances around the world like that was very dangerous. The journeys took many months, sometimes many years. Sailors were very brave. Chrissie was like that, very brave, unafraid. She would have been one of those adventurers on a ship.

So when people set sail, when sailors left, the people who remained behind were very sad -- they didn't know when, if ever, they would see their loved ones again. So, they all went to the docks to see the sailors and boats when they left. Priests would lead the people in prayers for the sailors. There would be a big send-off.

And then the families and friends who stayed behind would watch the ships leave. And keep watching as the ship disappeared into the distance -- over the horizon. They would watch until there was only the top of the mast and keep watching until there was nothing more to see.

That's what we do as Chrissie goes off on another adventure -- we say prayers -- we have a big send off. With family and friends watching -- to get the last glimpses -- every last one.

We believe in God -- we believe the soul is eternal -- we believe Christ has met Chrissie with open arms.

The thing to remember is that every time a ship disappears from our sight, there are people on the other side, people on another shore -- people who are shouting and rejoicing, saying, "Here she comes!! She's home!"

Chrissie is not alone-- she has family there -- and she has her best friend, Courtney. In Florida, Chrissie she was outgoing, friendly, and she knew how to meet new people. Now she has family and old friends, and she is meeting new friends again. Chrissie used to say that, when she died, she wanted to meet John Lennon. She really wanted to meet John Lennon. She loved Marilyn Monroe too. So now she is meeting new people.

She wants everyone to be happy. Her cousin, Tricia, pointed out that there are a lot of hard things in life, and now at least Chrissie will never have to suffer these things. She will always be happy now. She always wanted others to be happy. She wants you happy now. Remember the happy times you had with her. Remember her like in the pictures.

If Chrissie were here now, she would know the words to say, she would know something to do, to make you all laugh. I don't have her gift. We can only pray that one day, we will all be reunited again in Heaven -- And we will be praising God for all eternity.

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Please contact us if you have memories or photos of Chrissie you would like to share.

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