Day of Love....

Valentines Day..a day of love.... 5 yrs ago on Feb. 14, my heart was broken, along with many others. Valentine's day will never be the same to me. I had a great day, and was cooking supper for Warren and the kiddos, when the phone rang. I answered it and what I heard next stopped me in my tracks. I remember thinking, this was not funny, this was a mistake, I also remember thinking I am going to fall down, my legs turned to jello. I remember turning off the stove and listening, no moving, no crying just listening. I then told the caller, I didn't believe them, I would find out the truth, and call them back. I immediately called Rusty (our youth minister) and he answered and all he could say was "Kari I can't talk and I am so sorry, so sorry" and then click he had hung up on me. I put the phone back up, walked back into the kitchen turned the stove back on and started cooking again. I remember getting the kids plates ready and not making them come to the table, but letting them have a picnic on the floor in the living room. That is when I saw Warren pull in the driveway, he was early, and he was in a hurry. He ran to me, hugged me, and told me he was sorry. He then asked what I knew, and all I knew was that there had been an accident, a bad accident. The phone started to ring, my cell started to ring, people started to come by. I went with my sister in law to the youth activity center at our church where people had already started to gather, to pray, to sing, to cry, to remember. That is when it hit me, that is where I realized I had to be strong, I was there to comfort them, I was there to pray with them. But I still couldn't believe it. That is where I heard the story and found out that one of my precious teens that I had worked with, prayed with, took on trips, helped with boy advice, and had a great time with had been killed, and another one that I also loved that played volleyball for me was fighting for her life at Vanderbilt. Mary Helen McMeen, beautiful, smart, fun, only child, loved by all that knew her, was taken from us on Valentine's day 5 yrs ago. She had been following some other basketball players to a teammates house to eat dinner before the big game that night, it was a huge caravan. When she was broad sided by a truck, and killed instantly. The accident happened in front of most of the team, cheerleaders, and even some parents, the teens that were there have never forgotten what they saw, nor will they ever. She was soo loved, and still is. I treated her like my own, we were very close. I have worked with the teens for 10 or so years, and have gotten close to alot of them, but Mary Helen was different. I can not explain it, she was just special, and because of that I would of done almost anything for her. One summer she could not go on the week long mission trip, so I took a day off of work, and me and her and EK along with my sil, and headed to spend the day with the youth group...she was soo thankful and surprised I would do that for her. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her. I want my Emily Klair to have all the qualities she possessed. Her parents are heroes in my eyes, and I want to tell them how much I look up to them. I want them to know that I still talk about her, think about her and always will. I have lost grandparents, and close friends before, but this was different. This effected me differently, there are no words to describe how this changed me. So yes Valentine's day is a day of love, but too me it is also a day to spend with those I love and remember those I have loved and lost... Mary Helen you will never be forgotten Thank you for the love you showed to me and everyone around you. We miss you everyday!!!!