KKSmith.net

Although I cannot be there on the 29th to honor one of the most amazing people in my life. I honor her and celebrate her every day. through all that I do. Kristin is always with me and I feel that. She lifts me up everyday just by creeping into my mind 🙂 She gives me inspiration, wisdom, and most of all love. I always feel her watching over me. She is my gaurdian angel and I couldn’t have asked for a better 🙂 My love will be with all of you always and know that hers is too 🙂

hi taryn, amber and cheyenne:

i wanted to say hi and i am thinking of you all, i just got to the website for the first time today. pam sent me the url.

amber, i am not sure if you remember me, you were 5 when we met. i am your cousin, i live in virginia. remember we went to ride roller coasters together? i remember you liked my tongue ring a lot.
kristin’s dad was my dad’s brother. i always felt a special bond with kristin since we both lost our dads when we were little. my heart is still with her every day, and i think of her more like a sister than a cousin. i have a new baby now, his name is ethan. so you have a new cousin! i hope you can meet him soon, he is 5 months old and is getting ready to crawl around and get into a lot of trouble. you know how boys are.
cheyenne, i am your cousin too and i hope i can meet you soon. take good care of your mom and amber for me. i can already tell you are doing a great job.
taryn, i miss you, and i hope you are doing well. i think of you often. ethan is thriving, and mick and i hope to get out there with him to visit. we were talking about this winter, but we’ll see how things go. i am not so sure i could even get on a plane any more, and our vacation time is slim. but grandmom is dying to see the baby so maybe we can make the rounds – she is in tombstone now.
if you need anything at all, let me know. i am moving in 2 weeks and have 2 extra bedrooms at the house – you are all welcome at any time. i know we will catch up at some time, and my thoughts and prayers are with you all.
i love you!

La Tosha talked about Kristin’s 14th birthday party in her post of 9/16. As I remember, that party was a swimming party held at Kristin’s home. Does anyone have pictures from that day? I was there, but unfortunately I didn’t have my video camera with me.

As Kristin’s birthday draws near, I think about all of her birthday parties of years past. They were always such huge celebrations.

When Kristin was a baby girl, I remember her all dressed up in a gorgeous little party dress, sitting in her high chair at John, Taryn and Kristin’s first home, surrounded by family and friends. She was so excited opening presents and she loved everything she got, whether it be toys, stuffed animals, clothes or whatever.

I also remember a birthday party/picnic that was held at Mehl Park. There had to be like 50 people there! I have quite a few snapshots from that party. I don’t remember how old she turned that year, but I’m guessing she was early elementary school age. I recall a huge pinata, kids in swimsuits, water balloon fights, and lots of food.

Then there was the year, I think maybe 5th or 6th grade, when she had a swim party at the community pool of their patio home near Skyline. Again, there were lots of kids there and I remember that Taryn rented a cotton candy machine and we made a sticky mess. That was a lot of fun too.

Oneof my fondest birthday memories was a party that Taryn threw at a local hotel. She rented a suite for the night, and a bunch of girls had a slumber and swim party. Again, Taryn brought tons of snacks, drinks, dinner, and an immense birthday cake. What stands out in my mind at that party was something hilarious that the girls did. Kristin and several of her talented K.U. friends were hiding in a large armoire in the hotel room, so Taryn and I got out the video camera. These girls were stuffed inside this piece of furniture with the doors pulled closed, and they were singing beautifully! Taryn and I snuck up, threw open the doors, and took home movies of their reactions. It was priceless! Taryn, we’d better look at that video again; we might need to send it in to America’s Funniest Videos.

I am so sad that Kristin didn’t have many more birthday parties, but I can honestly say that her mother made each and every one of them an extraordinary celebration. Taryn didn’t just invite a few kids, there were dozens of Kristin’s friends there. And she didn’t just serve cake, it was always a huge, delicious, artistic masterpiece. Taryn also put together creative and thoughtful gift bags for the friends who attended, like crayons and color books or bubbles when the kids were young, and nail polishes and lotions when they got to be young ladies.

I would love to hear from Kristin’s friends as to what they remember about Kristin’s parties. Try to be specific as to what year it was or what grade you guys were in. I know you can fill in a lot more detail than I can, and probably clear up some things that are vague to me. It would be nice to relive those memories through your writings.

Also, I ask that each of you please keep Taryn in your thoughts and prayers as October 1st draws near. It’s going to be a very tough time for her, for Amber and Cheyenne, and for all of us who were blessed to know and love Kristin.

My best memory of Kristin is at her brithday party last year. I couldn’t get my back hand spring so Kristin asked everyone if they could get off the tampolen for a minute. By the end of the night I had it. So that is how I will aways remember her.

The July Kindness Project Blood Drive has been revived because of the great need of blood due to the tragedies on the east coast today. Please consider donating blood in Kristin’s memory. Thanks to those who donated in July. I have some “Kindness Cards” in Kristin’s name that the blood bank will post or you can let them know that you are making your donation in memory of Kristin Kay Smith and they will give you a card to fill out. Please send me a card or post a mesage here to let us know of your donation.

Below is an e-mail message that I received from the M.I.S.S. Foundation:

As many of you know, our July Blood Drive was highly successful at raising hundreds of pints of
blood all around the United States. Undoubtedly, many of the families who donated will be helping to
save the lives of those injured in the tragedies that occurred today.

We are calling for a revival of the July Kindness Project Blood Drive. Please, go to your local blood bank (look
in your yellow pages) and go and donate blood. Make sure you eat well and are well fluidated before you go.
I donated a pint in July and will be returning again to re-donate. For every pint donated, you can help
to save the lives of 4-8 people. It doesn’t matter ‘where’ you are in the U.S.

“The minimum time between donations is only 59 days. That means
that people who donated for the first half of our blood drive can donate
again. And from what the lady said on the phone, you can specifically
earmark the blood you donate for the tragedies that occurred today. “

hey everyone it is Katie this is the frist time I have been to the site because I all thought it was going to bring back sad memories but it has also brought back the good too. It is a great website that really shares her life and what she was all about and I am happy to remember these stories so I just hope that people can come here and read about it. u guys this was a great I idea.I miss her a lot but I never cry because she would never want that. I also never where all black because I know she hated that. I am just hoping that everyone can come here even people who didn’t know her very well or even at all can learn about her.She wasn’t on this earth for a while but she touched everyone she mets lives.
Everyone in the words of steph copperman in her last show “remember a little piece of Kristin is in our minds effecting our thoughts, a peice of her is in our hearts and a peice of her is in the back row making sure we don’t mess up:)”
Love always and forever,
Katie