The following was written by Maria,one of Charisses' friends. I found it one day, It is a beautiful tribute to my daughter.
When i was 10, i had this reeeeeeally great best friend. she was blonde & ditzy && always managed to like the same boy i liked. i luvd school because of this girl. we would even write each other letters and post them, even though we lived 2 minutes walk away. when we were 12, she could not stop talking about her trip to cali she was taking during summer vacation-- right before 7th grade. finally it was time for her trip!! i went a trip, too. only i went to idaho. before she left, she wrote me a letter!! a few days later, i came home. i couldn't wait to check the mail, but i had to wait for my mother to open the door because the mail keys were on the house keys. when i reached the front door, my mother & i could already hear our phone ringing. it just wouldn't stop. unlocking that front door was the longest 10 seconds of my life. i ran to check the caller-id box- charisse said she'd call as soon as she was in cali so i needed to know if she had or not. my mother answered the phone. she called me over and told me that was charisses step-mom, Doris. she'd been trying to get in touch with me for 3 days now. Doris said they were having a funeral the following week for Charisse. While leaving L.A.X, Charisses family car-pool was tragically hit. She, along with another sibling, did not survive. i ran down the 24 concrete steps leading off our porch to the mail box. In my mail-box was my last letter from my best friend. The stamp was a funny cartoon picture of Bugs Bunny eating a carrot. We loved stamps. It's been about 10 years since- but I remember it like it was yesterday. Even more, I still feel it.
And from her cousin: I remember when you passed away... I was sitting in my kitchen eating breakfast and my mom got the phone call. I was numb. I couldn't believe it, my beautiful cousin was gone. I had to go to summer school with that on my head. It was unbearable. I remember I wrote a poem for you, I can still remember some of it.My cousin that I loved so dear is no longer living here.She is off to a better place, there isn't any fighting there isn't any war, there isn't any reason for you to lock your door.I can't remember the rest, but I can remember your smile and your kindness. I will always miss you and you are forever in my heart. I hope one day we will meet again. I would love to climb trees with you once more. I love you!
- medea ford
The following was written by Maria,one of Charisses' friends. I found it one day, It is a beautiful tribute to my daughter.
When i was 10, i had this reeeeeeally great best friend. she was blonde & ditzy && always managed to like the same boy i liked. i luvd school because of this girl. we would even write each other letters and post them, even though we lived 2 minutes walk away. when we were 12, she could not stop talking about her trip to cali she was taking during summer vacation-- right before 7th grade. finally it was time for her trip!! i went a trip, too. only i went to idaho. before she left, she wrote me a letter!! a few days later, i came home. i couldn't wait to check the mail, but i had to wait for my mother to open the door because the mail keys were on the house keys. when i reached the front door, my mother & i could already hear our phone ringing. it just wouldn't stop. unlocking that front door was the longest 10 seconds of my life. i ran to check the caller-id box- charisse said she'd call as soon as she was in cali so i needed to know if she had or not. my mother answered the phone. she called me over and told me that was charisses step-mom, Doris. she'd been trying to get in touch with me for 3 days now. Doris said they were having a funeral the following week for Charisse. While leaving L.A.X, Charisses family car-pool was tragically hit. She, along with another sibling, did not survive. i ran down the 24 concrete steps leading off our porch to the mail box. In my mail-box was my last letter from my best friend. The stamp was a funny cartoon picture of Bugs Bunny eating a carrot. We loved stamps. It's been about 10 years since- but I remember it like it was yesterday. Even more, I still feel it.
And from her cousin: I remember when you passed away... I was sitting in my kitchen eating breakfast and my mom got the phone call. I was numb. I couldn't believe it, my beautiful cousin was gone. I had to go to summer school with that on my head. It was unbearable. I remember I wrote a poem for you, I can still remember some of it.My cousin that I loved so dear is no longer living here.She is off to a better place, there isn't any fighting there isn't any war, there isn't any reason for you to lock your door.I can't remember the rest, but I can remember your smile and your kindness. I will always miss you and you are forever in my heart. I hope one day we will meet again. I would love to climb trees with you once more. I love you!
- medea ford