Merry Christmas, baby girl! Today sure wasn’t the same without you,
but it’s ok because you have the best gifts of all!
I still wonder what it must be like where you are…I think I “hear” your answer, and it makes me so happy for you, honey!
So, even though I miss you so much, I’m happy for all the gifts you left with us and all the gifts you have!
Merry Christmas, Emy! I love you so much!
~Mom
Emily:
We have countless memories of hysterical laughter, crying, and anger, but mostly laughter. We grew up together. We watched our childhood carelessness turn into very strange and uncomfortable teenage issues. We had each other; providing a safety net, in your presence I felt normal/understood, comfortable, worry-free, open, happy even omits the others. We did EVERYTHING together, (literally everything) liked the same boys, hated the same girls, had the same strange sense of humor, fought about who’s music was better, all making us closer, and stronger human beings. You taught me a lot about myself, and the world. Emily showed me what love really means; and her strength never ceased to amaze me. She was without a doubt, the only person I could call in the middle of the night crying and expect an answer with open ears to my stupid problems. She had nothing but love and the purest urge to help others.
We developed our own language, and when other people tried to use it we got mad because nobody could do it right, it was only funny to us. You are my sister and my true best friend. You knew me like the back of your hand and we could finish each other’s sentences. We could always tell when the other person was lying, and you could even tell me what my own problem was before I knew. I have never had so many good, stomach aching laughs than the ones shared with you.
One of our favorite hysterical laughing attacks… the bee, Sitting on my roof, having one of our amazing deep conversations, when a bee buzzes by and I spit and got him right on the butt, he plunged down and we lost it, and you peed all over my roof. This is the last story I remember telling someone together.
We have countless breakthrough moments, resulting in so much trouble, but we always found ourselves coming back to each other, no matter how bad the issue.
Your house was my house, and my house was your house. Every time I would knock on her door, she would get so mad and tell to just come in. So many binge-sleepovers, I felt so safe and comfortable at your house, (which is where I was throughout most of high school), staying up late with Hanna, playing board games, being weird, talking and making each other laugh, hiding from tornadoes in your mom’s room behind the door, your dad trying to calm us down. Staying up so many days at a time we got stupid, making such weird videos and posting them to YouTube. Listening to your beautiful poems was one of my favorite things about coming over.
The smallest things made us crack-up, so we ended up with a book of inside jokes. Constantly had each others’ backs, through the ups and downs, through the thick and thin, I love you more than I could ever put into words, and I’m staying strong for you because you always did for me, and I know in my heart that’s what you would want me to do. Rest easy and I’ll see you soon.
~Love, Your Best Friend.
Madelyn Grainger
Photographed this bit of peace on the way to the hospital to be with Emily some months ago.
No matter how much bug juice is on the windshield of our lives, we can still see through it, to little reminders of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is ever on the road ahead, and forever on the horizon.
~tdv
No matter how much bug juice is on the windshield of our lives, we can still see through it, to little reminders of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is ever on the road ahead. and forever on the horizon.
Betty Vaughan:
As the Christmas season approaches I find myself thinking about the bright light that shown in the sky the night our savior was born. Then I always think of Emily. She was sent to us so she could shine her light on so many. Her life was a struggle, but her life also brought much happiness to so many including herself. This granddaughter of mine will never be forgotten. She is with the angels in heaven and will never suffer anymore. Love and miss you Em.
Aunt Tammy Jo Hays:
Emily and I kept in touch mostly on Facebook or phone. My loving niece, she just amazed me with her courage and strength. She would talk about how she was feeling and ask me how was I. You see I also have a bad heart so my niece and I had that bond. We always felt better after we wrote or talked. We both knew we were there for each other. I miss that special time I had with her. She was funny when she would talk about boys, too. She needed to vent like most women do. Emily I love you and miss you forever, but I know you’re still there looking down on us because you don’t want to miss anything. And one more thing, give my brother a hug and kiss for me. I know he’s watching, too. Love, Aunt Tammy
Susan Hammond:
I was not able to speak at Em’s wake and just wanted to say what an honor it was to be Em’s Aunt Suey. Em colored a pic. of Tigger for me 2 yrs. ago as I would tell her to try to be a Tigger! Little did I know how much the picture would mean to me and will cherish it forever. Em was our drama queen and when my tears start rolling down my cheeks I think of Em calling me being Miss drama and when conversation ended I would usually say I need a root touch up and the laughter comes and the tears subside. God is taking care of Em and also Em’s family and for that I am forever grateful! Love my Em til we meet again.
By Emily, For Suey
Emily was obsessed with smelly goods, like body spray, lotions, bath stuff, candles and the like. Em couldn’t go to the mall without checking out Bath & Body Works. It didn’t matter where she went to shop or for what, she’d always visit the smelly goods section, and want to carry some of it home with her. It’s in her room, in her car… heck, it’s even in my car.
Similarly, Emy had this weird connection to notebooks, investigating the supply in every store that had them. Stacks and stacks of notebooks she has… with few of them ever written in, much less filled with writing. She asked for them at Christmas and birthdays. Funny her first job was at Office Max. I kidded her that they would pay her in notebooks, or that she would spend all of her pay there… on notebooks. :]
Same thing with Target. She just loved to shop there, and likewise it was funny that she wound up working her second job there, and again, spending her pay at the place she worked.
Em recently went on for a couple of days saying, “Just call me ‘G’.” You know, all coooool like. When asked what that meant, she finally said “Graffiti.” See, she had planned to go to the Clifton Pond bridge and add to the graffiti there, and other places. And with that, taking on this imagined persona as ‘G’, you know.
It’s funny because Emily confessedly could never really break fully from her ‘goodie-goodie’ interior, and be a ‘bad kid’. Ha ha. Another funny thing, even funnier still, is that Em couldn’t even draw.
Potty training for ‘number two’ was a battle. Number one, no problem, wearing regular clothes all day. But Em would insist that we give her a pull-up for her to do her second business in. She would stubbornly ‘hold it’ until we complied. Once outfitted, she would go and hide, sometimes in her room, sometimes in a corner, behind the recliner, even in the bathroom, right next to where she was supposed to be in the first place. This an example of her innate power of will, to the point of absolute discomfort even, but a will that she employed selectively, and intelligently (though not necessarily in this case).
Love you, Em. :]
Our Emy 