in memory of...

About a year ago I joined a sort of online forum for writers. It was a courageous move for me, I think I even blogged about it when it happened. It made my writing come to life and I was able to join in on the writings of so many talented people. There was a particular writer, Stephanie Bell who I just happened to stumble across one day. She was just barely eighteen but so talented. She had a gift and it would be easy to imagine that she could have written best-selling novels if she wished it. I received an email update on one of her stories this week and much to my dismay it was not a new chapter on her story, but a eulogy written by someone close to her informing us of her passing.

I didn't know something like this could hit me as hard as it did. But I was broken today. This young woman's amazing words were silenced by a drunk driver. And she was only two weeks away from graduating high school. Being a writer in itself is such a passion for me. It goes deeper than I could ever have imagined, but the day I accepted my gift was the day I let my heart take in everything that came with it. This young girl was a kindred spirit, someone who had big dreams and amazing passion. And she's gone.

I never met her, but I was addicted to her words. She wrote with ease and I'm even more saddened to know so many of her stories will go unfinished. It's such a saddening thing for me as a writer. I'm not even sure how to put the feelings into words, and words are what I do best...

Life is so precious, so short. The legacy she leaves behind in words is still something of amazing caliber, but what it could have been is so hard to not feel grief over. I mourn her loss today, and I pray for her family. Pray for the anger that they must feel for being stripped too early of an amazing and talented young woman. And I pray for everyone else on the forum that lost a great friend, an amazing source of talent, and someone who was quick to offer encouragement to her fellow authors.


The very words she quoted on her profile.
“We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”
-Chuck Palahniuk

In memory of Stephanie Bell.