abby rose lee
it has occurred to me that after the week that we’ve had that it is IMPOSSIBLE to sit down and put into words what is going through your mind. it may be futile to even try, but other people have, so i’ll give it a shot.
wednesday night was just like any other night in the LC… i got the invite to eat dinner with the lees, but opted for stavro’s with my parents and went to a late movie with ellie and anna instead. they were telling me how the photo shoot with malcolm went that morning and how malcolm had a blatant crush on abby… how he arranged every picture around her and found every excuse to talk to her or touch her. of course that didn’t surprise any of us, because abby is stunningly beautiful and one of the funniest people i’ve ever known. they were so excited about having those pictures as christmas presents for the parents and gave abby all the credit for coming up with the idea and arranging the whole thing. that conversation is one i doubt i’ll ever forget, and those pictures far from coincidence. so the movie was good and anna won the LC “familiar face” competition with a whopping head count of 16. impressive. they dropped me off, and i think i actually called it a night around 3:00. it wasn’t 40 minutes before i got the phone call that abby had been in a car accident and was on her way to orlando with severe head injuries.
i think i normally would have been more scared at first by that news if not for susan and allison’s recent car accident, that similar phone call, and allison’s incredible recovery. if allison was okay, abby would be too. surely God wouldn’t let a 19-year-old girl die in a car accident on thanksgiving morning. that was my reassurance as we drove. but after getting to the hospital and being with their family for what seemed like the longest ten minutes of my life before we were told that abby wasn’t going to make it, i realized that God’s plan is bigger than ours. He allows the unthinkable to happen, and we may never understand why.
those next few days seemed to never end. i kept thinking that abby would walk down the stairs and ask what everyone was crying about. i kept hoping that maybe it was a bad dream. it didn’t seem real to me. i can’t imagine how it seemed to her family. we went through pictures, searched for songs to be played at the funeral, and made a lot of phone calls. we tried so hard to be strong for each other and remind each other that abby was in a far better place. i didn’t want to leave ellie, even for a second, although i knew that i was completely helpless in bringing back her little sister… i wanted so badly to be able to. i’ve never watched anyone that i love so much endure a loss that great. we all felt so helpless…
the service for abby on sunday was BEAUTIFUL. well over 600 people were there, most of which knew to wear pink and send pink flowers (her favorite color) without that ever actually being said. it was amazing, but at the same time, we were struggling. how could this happen? she was NINETEEN. her family is surely one of the sweetest families on the face of the earth, and they all loved each other so much. and everyone loves them so much. they were so close. it didn’t seem fair, and it still doesn’t, and it may never.
but i realized this week, again, that God works for the good of those that love Him. i realized that He will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. He has prepared a place for us, and He wants us to spend eternity with Him. i could sense a comfort over the Lee family that only He could have been providing, and it was so humbling for me to be a witness to it.
this whole thing has left me with a renewed determination to live every day to the fullest, express what’s in my heart, and live at peace with EVERYONE. i never really understood how fragile human life is until now, but after a tragedy like this, i’ve gotten a whole new appreciation for how petty these things really are. it’s not about pride, it’s not about winning. it’s not worth staying upset with other people just to prove a point, and there’s no reason in the world not to express what’s in your heart. this is a short life, my friends. we are only passing through, but we leave a legacy when we go, and i feel like we should be thinking every day about the kind of mark we are leaving.
i wish you all could have witnessed the outpouring of love that i saw this past week for sweet abby rose. for only 19 years, she sure impacted those around here in an incredible way. it’s almost breathtaking to think of how she’s spent these last few days… she’s with our Lord, a place where she will never again be reminded of ungodly or unhappy things. i know i sure can’t wait to be there with her.
ellie, i want you to know that you are the best and most consistent friend i have ever had. i was at a loss for words this week, but i want you to know how much i love you and that i have been thinking about and praying for you and your family constantly. i will never understand how you are feeling and what you have been going through, but i need you to know that i want to do everything in my power to help you in the process. I LOVE YOU SO, SO MUCH.
we'll miss you, abby rose, but we'll be seeing you again...
“therefore we do not lose heart. though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” -2 corinthians 4:16-18
wednesday night was just like any other night in the LC… i got the invite to eat dinner with the lees, but opted for stavro’s with my parents and went to a late movie with ellie and anna instead. they were telling me how the photo shoot with malcolm went that morning and how malcolm had a blatant crush on abby… how he arranged every picture around her and found every excuse to talk to her or touch her. of course that didn’t surprise any of us, because abby is stunningly beautiful and one of the funniest people i’ve ever known. they were so excited about having those pictures as christmas presents for the parents and gave abby all the credit for coming up with the idea and arranging the whole thing. that conversation is one i doubt i’ll ever forget, and those pictures far from coincidence. so the movie was good and anna won the LC “familiar face” competition with a whopping head count of 16. impressive. they dropped me off, and i think i actually called it a night around 3:00. it wasn’t 40 minutes before i got the phone call that abby had been in a car accident and was on her way to orlando with severe head injuries.
i think i normally would have been more scared at first by that news if not for susan and allison’s recent car accident, that similar phone call, and allison’s incredible recovery. if allison was okay, abby would be too. surely God wouldn’t let a 19-year-old girl die in a car accident on thanksgiving morning. that was my reassurance as we drove. but after getting to the hospital and being with their family for what seemed like the longest ten minutes of my life before we were told that abby wasn’t going to make it, i realized that God’s plan is bigger than ours. He allows the unthinkable to happen, and we may never understand why.
those next few days seemed to never end. i kept thinking that abby would walk down the stairs and ask what everyone was crying about. i kept hoping that maybe it was a bad dream. it didn’t seem real to me. i can’t imagine how it seemed to her family. we went through pictures, searched for songs to be played at the funeral, and made a lot of phone calls. we tried so hard to be strong for each other and remind each other that abby was in a far better place. i didn’t want to leave ellie, even for a second, although i knew that i was completely helpless in bringing back her little sister… i wanted so badly to be able to. i’ve never watched anyone that i love so much endure a loss that great. we all felt so helpless…
the service for abby on sunday was BEAUTIFUL. well over 600 people were there, most of which knew to wear pink and send pink flowers (her favorite color) without that ever actually being said. it was amazing, but at the same time, we were struggling. how could this happen? she was NINETEEN. her family is surely one of the sweetest families on the face of the earth, and they all loved each other so much. and everyone loves them so much. they were so close. it didn’t seem fair, and it still doesn’t, and it may never.
but i realized this week, again, that God works for the good of those that love Him. i realized that He will NEVER leave us nor forsake us. He has prepared a place for us, and He wants us to spend eternity with Him. i could sense a comfort over the Lee family that only He could have been providing, and it was so humbling for me to be a witness to it.
this whole thing has left me with a renewed determination to live every day to the fullest, express what’s in my heart, and live at peace with EVERYONE. i never really understood how fragile human life is until now, but after a tragedy like this, i’ve gotten a whole new appreciation for how petty these things really are. it’s not about pride, it’s not about winning. it’s not worth staying upset with other people just to prove a point, and there’s no reason in the world not to express what’s in your heart. this is a short life, my friends. we are only passing through, but we leave a legacy when we go, and i feel like we should be thinking every day about the kind of mark we are leaving.
i wish you all could have witnessed the outpouring of love that i saw this past week for sweet abby rose. for only 19 years, she sure impacted those around here in an incredible way. it’s almost breathtaking to think of how she’s spent these last few days… she’s with our Lord, a place where she will never again be reminded of ungodly or unhappy things. i know i sure can’t wait to be there with her.
ellie, i want you to know that you are the best and most consistent friend i have ever had. i was at a loss for words this week, but i want you to know how much i love you and that i have been thinking about and praying for you and your family constantly. i will never understand how you are feeling and what you have been going through, but i need you to know that i want to do everything in my power to help you in the process. I LOVE YOU SO, SO MUCH.
we'll miss you, abby rose, but we'll be seeing you again...
“therefore we do not lose heart. though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” -2 corinthians 4:16-18