Two years ago today...

...God welcomed three new angles into heaven.  Not a day goes by that I don't think of Kelli, the sadness that hits me is not only for my own pain, the sadness I feel in my heart, but for her friends and sisters - those who keep her memory alive with stories and facebook posts, and her parents - my heart breaks each time I think of Rich and Cindy, the loss they have experienced is unfathomable.

Just over two years ago, I delivered the following eulogy at Kelli's funeral.  I post it here to ensure we never forget this beautiful girl.

Good morning everyone.


My name is Katie Upton, and for those of you that don't know me, I was Kelli's "Big" at Phi Mu.



When Kelli’s mom asked me to speak, I began by looking on Kelli’s Facebook page and a quote that Kelli had in her profile caught my eye. It's from song lyrics by Sugarland's hit "Happy Ending." The quote says "The first and last breaths don't matter, it's all the ones that are in between." So with that quote in mind, I thought I would share about some of Kelli's "in between breaths." Those simple stories that made Kelli, Kelli. The stories that remind us all of the kind of person she was every day.



Kelli had a lot of roles in her life, she was a daughter, a granddaughter, a niece and a cousin. She was a photographer, a student and a classmate. She was a roommate, a cook, an entrepreneur and a girlfriend.



She was a sorority sister, a big, a little, and a twin. But despite all her roles, or perhaps more appropriately, because of them, Kelli was simply Kelli. She was the girl in class who always had a beautiful smile on her face.



She was the roommate whose bedroom was plastered with pictures on every wall, inside every closet and on every surface - a constant reminder to her of all the people in her life who she loved, and who loved her. She was the lunch companion who would show up with a box from the salad bar while the rest of us ate pizza and Chick-Fil-A, only to find that her entire box was full of cauliflower one day and tomatoes the next.



Kelli was the little who insisted we eat at Pita Pit for every family dinner for a year, and then one day decided she'd had enough, and told us we'd be going to Panera from then on.
I remember attending a date party with Kelli about a couple of years ago. It was a semi-formal dance and Kelli looked gorgeous as always in her favorite brown halter-neck dress. Before the dance began, there were dance instructors who were teaching us how to salsa and tango and cha-cha. We all started to follow along and I remember looking over at Kelli and Christian, watching the two of them together. Christian got the moves easily and Kelli...well let's just say she was a couple of steps behind. But I remember watching them laughing together and how radiant she looked, just enjoying every second with him.



But Kelli also had a strong, driven, professional side. I mentioned earlier that Kelli was an entrepreneur, and if you knew Kelli, then you knew she loved to design and make jewelry. Kelli was constantly creating and marketing her designs to friends, family and her sisters. At the end of last summer, Kelli had an e-mail sent from our sorority's executive teams account including pictures Kelli's "newest line of jewelry."



Kelli was a wonderful sorority sister. I remember during her pledgeship going over to her suite to pick her up for a function and seeing writing all over her bathroom mirror, perplexed, I asked her why she had plastered her mirror with scribbled text. She responded that she was trying to memorize our Chapter's Creed and thought that seeing it written on her mirror would help her to learn it faster and remember it more easily.



I also recall the day Kelli called me to tell me she had found someone in the pledge class below hers who she was hoping would be her little - she had such joy in her voice over the opportunity to mentor a new sister and teach her everything she learned during her first year. In closing, I know that everyone in this room has stories about Kelli and that the few I've just shared only represent a small part of her life and who she was.

 I want to encourage everyone there to keeping sharing Kelli’s stories with one another. If a story or memory pops into your head tell the people around you, tell Kelli's friends, and her family, or post them on Kelli's Facebook wall. I challenge everyone who knew and loved her to not let these memories and stories die with Kelli, keep them alive through one another.



I’d like to leave you all with one final thought:



The following post was left on Kelli's Facebook wall just days after she passed away, and I think it represents a how we are all feeling:


"God got a gorgeous new angel today. See you on the other side. Love In Our Bond Forever."

As I write this post today, and look through all of Kelli’s photos and read through her wall, I am proud to say, that Kelli’s friends and sisters did not let those memories fade. If you log on to Kelli’s Facebook page today, you will see that she has not, nor could she ever be forgotten. Her wall is filled with loving remarks and sweet memories – a constant, living and changing tribute to the woman we all love.