I was 15 years old. I had curly hair that had been hot rolled and hair sprayed and was as big as Dallas itself. I was wearing the most hideous show choir dress you have ever seen in your life but at the time I thought I looked like a Barbie doll. My blush was an inch thick and my lips were bright red. To my right sat my friend Noel and to my left sat my friend Jennifer. They were about to go on stage, the girls I looked up to and idolized as a young teenager. The boys we all drooled over. But there was one that always stood out among all the others. The one who always spoke to me even when the others didn't. The one who I felt the most comfortable in my own skin around even though I was sure she barely knew I existed. The song was "My funny Valentine." When she opened her mouth to sing everyone grew quiet. Her voice was like anything else you have ever heard. It would make you want to dance while simultaneously made you want to weep. I felt a lump in my throat as that song moved me to tears. She was the girl that every girl my age wanted to be, to look like, to sound like. I will never forget that moment of sitting there in complete and utter awe and listening to one of the most beautiful voices out of one of the most beautiful people I have ever heard in my entire life.
Though we were never what you would consider friends, she is one of those people who impacted my life and she never knew she had. Now more than ever I will cherish that moment, that memory that has never managed to fade in my mind. I will always hear her voice just as angelic in my head as I did 17 years ago. She defines strength, courage and most of all faith. My heart aches for her family. I can't wrap my head around it. I don't think I want too because then it becomes too real to me that it could be any one of us in her shoes. I pray for Mercy. I pray for miraculous healing. Most of all I pray for peace for all of those who love her and for all of those who have been touched by her life. I know that I cherish my memory and felt compelled to share it with you. Carrie, you are loved and adored, even in the most unexpected places.
