Nicole

On April 10th of this year, Nicole Marie Miller died in a car accident. She had been my best friend almost since we met at about 8 years old and although we had begun to drift apart these last few years with college getting the way and life taking us down different paths, she was one of the most important people in my life. So, with my parents help, I flew home for the funeral. Below is posted the speech Val Harris and I wrote for the memorial service.

V: Hello, I'm Val Harris

J: and I'm Joye Kallgren. We were both very close friends with Nicole and we thought we would share a few memorable moments with you.

V: In 9th grade, I moved to Trenton and joined the Marching Band, happening to be in the same section as Nicole. The first memory I have of her is when she looked me square in the eyes and said.."Yeah...I really don't like you." The thing was, coming from a sarcastic family, I got a kick out of it and ended up appreciating the blunt person she was.

J: My memories of Nicole go back to 2nd or 3rd grade. I even remember standing up during Pioneer Girls Show N' Tell and announcing proudly that my mom was going to have a baby, only to have Nicole stand up immediately after and say MY mom is going to have a baby. 9 months later we were both big sisters again. It seems like we were always together, from our trips to Camp Cherith, Summers at VBS, and sleepovers in the basement where we would stay up to 3am playing monopoly. In 9th grade, we both agreed to try out for the Volleyball Team, despite knowing we would both get cut, me because of my lack of talent, and her because she was hopelessly too short. Yet we both agreed to celebrate NOT making the team with our favorite treat: slurpees. I still remember her calling me up after 2nd round cuts and saying " Well, we're going to 7-11!"

V: If it wasn't slurpees, it was Ice Caps. And any time we were going out and I asked her "What sounds good?", she'd reply without hesitation, "Taco Bell." Any time we would sit down in a restaurant, she didn't have to say anything, we KNEW we had to order for her. She has such a spunky personality and sense of adventure. This lead us on multiple occasions to climbing walls, buildings,...THS,...Alma College. You name it, we've climbed it. We did so many random things. For one of her birthdays, I bought her Van Gogh's ear, in the form of an air freshener, just to add a little spice to her car. She must have kept that up for two straight years, until I bought her a new one. And she kept it up ever since.

J: Not only was she spunky with a random sense of humor, but she also had quite a competative side. She and I had been designated Euchre partners since I learned how to play. We knew how to read eachother's every expression and therefore, I learned to expect that she would call a loner on a 9 and a 10. Most things went without saying. When either of us had something on our mind, we would call the other up and spend the afternoon "porch-sitting" as we called it, basically just sitting on my front porch talking about life. I'll never forget it.Someone once told me that you meet 3-5 people in life who truley change you and for Val and I, and so many others that she encountered, Miller was one of those people.

It was a very weird few days, because inside we all just wanted to cry for days but then my closest friends from highschool and I would get together and find ourselves laughing for hours over memories. I mean, you are there, trying to move on and not be overwhelmed by this horrible grief, yet you dont want to and can't move on too quickly, as if that person didnt mean anything to you, but at the same time, you know that person would want you happy. So I've found that the grief comes in waves. There are days when I'm busy and doing fine, and others where I just want to cry and ask God Why?.

However, the other thing that this experience taught me is how loved I am and how great friends are. The people at Agape in France here took the time to pray over the situation, for the family and friends, I received letters, notes, candy, visits from so many people, prayers, and so many people sacrificed time and money to get home and be there for me, and for the family of Nicole especially. So I want to thank you all so much because although only time will truly heal something like this, its so comforting to know you have so many people to lean on. Despite the horrible circumstances, I had a great week home and saw so many amazing people. I realized how much I miss and love my highschool friends as they made their way home from all over the US. I saw my boyfriend, cousin, grandparents...and I just realized how important all of my friends and family are to me. Its so cliche but I think you can really never tell them enough how much you care for them. I love you all.

In conclusion, I would just like to ask for continued prayers for Mr and Mrs Miller and Will and Cat, because its as things start to die down that you need continued support and prayer.