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Rachael
was an amazing child with a wonderfully sunny disposition,
a contagious smile, who warmed the hearts of everyone
she met. Her joyful exuberant spirit emanated from her
smile and her kind heart. She was smart and possessed
a sharp, witty sense of humor far beyond her years. She
brought out the best in those around her. Her beauty,
strength, compassion, and her capacity to love continues
through all she touched.
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| Rachael
had a deep connection with her family, and made friends
easily. She had a deep bond to her classmates and teachers
and took her studies seriously at the Carolina International
School and R. Brown McAllister Elementary. Cooking and food
grew into a deep and lasting bond with her dad. She was
"Rachael Ray" and he was "Joshy Flay."
She didn't like everything, but was willing to try anything
and developed a love for sushi as just one example of that
desire to experience everything. She loved to cuddle with
her mom, and ride scooters and bikes with her brother. She
loved to sing and dance to music, play her piano, and worked
hard at the sport of basketball. She had a love for swimming
and spent every summer in the pool swimming like a fish
and tanning like a sun goddess.
Despite
her diagnosis and the chronic presentations of her disease,
she persisted with her activities, always pushing herself
to do her best; she made 5th grade honor roll earlier
this school year, in spite of having missed increasing
amounts of school. She also won a D.A.R.E essay contest.
Her accomplishments were too numerous to list, but describing
her as "busy" would fit her well. When she grew
up, she wanted to be an author and an advertising director
because she regularly declared that most TV commercials
were "dumb and she could do them better." Her
courage and fortitude was something to be admired, even
by those who only met her briefly.
Her
untimely death will have a lasting impact on those that
knew her, and her story deeply touches those who did not.
Some even think the sun dimmed a bit when she passed.
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