Kristie
by Travis McKee on Thursday, June 7, 2012 at 7:53am ·
A month ago, I was sitting in the Smith house after an unimaginable night. We lost an amazing woman, Kristie, wife to Kyle, mom to Kassie and Kourtney. The next few days we sat and sorted pictures, told stories, and had a great celebration at their church. But the whole time it was odd, because I saw pics and heard stories of a woman I didn't know.
The first time I met Kristie, she was preparing okra for dinner and invited Lindsey (who snuck us over to the the Smith's) and I to dinner. I remember her being so nice and reaching out in conversation. I remember her as the woman who sold her business to focus on helping others with cancer like she had. I remember this fighter who, when I met her, was the healthiest she had ever been in her life. I remember the woman who told you what you needed to hear, but allowed you the space to experience it yourself. I remembered the strongest person ever in that bed saying she loved Kassie and I and blessing our future.
What I most remember is a morning almost a year ago. Kassie was in the shower to goto breakfast with me before Mission Week. Kyle was in the living room and I asked him to get Kristie so I could talk with them. I was wearing scrubs, everyone was in thier pjs, but I needed to ask them to marry Kassie. I think they expected that when I asked to talk to them, but when I pulled a ring out of my scrubs pocket Kristie's jaw literally dropped open. She was so excited for us, and immediatly embraced me as part of the family.
See, a lot of folks have years of memories, and Kassie and Kourtney have so many tied in to their being. I didn't know her then, just in the last couple of years. My memories aren't definitive for anyone else, but for me they help define her. What I di see in those memories from others is the influence that she had on Kassie and I's life. Kassie said the other day that she was so sad Kristie hadn't seen all the changes that have happened in the last month (a whole other note in and of itself). While her physical presence is absent, her spirit is permeated into all we have and all we'll do. I thank her for the amazing family I was "adopted" into. I thank her for the wonderful daughter that she raised. And I am blessed that she approved me to share my life with that wonderful daughter.
Miss you, Kristie. We are a family forever changed by you.
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