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My most memorable moment with Rachel was when we were in Breckenridge, CO with OMPC's youth group. We were riding up the mountain on the ski lift and Rachel was sitting next to me. I guess that she didn't quite get all the way on because as we started to go up she fell off and did a face plant in the snow. The people at the lift had to stop it from moving and come and pick her up and put her on a different chair. Fortunately, she wasn't hurt, just a little embarressed. It was sooooo funny!! We were all laughing hysterically. I'll never forget that fun moment with Rachel. Amy Bley
My most memorable moment with Rachel and her family have been knowing how Very Loved Rachel and her family are by so many people most of whom she may never meet. Rachel, Please Know that everyone who knows about your family's situation love your entire family, and we pray of you every day. God Bless each of you. Brenda Joiner Talladega, Alabama
My most memorable moment with Rachel was camping out in Grand Marlin and Grand Jewel's backyard. Even though we were right outside their bedroom window, we would always get scared and go inside and watch
T.V. I know we're too old now but I still think of it every summer and wish we could do it again. Misty
My favorite moment with Rachel was when I took Rachel to the homecoming dance and we ate at Kobe. I was worried about getting there late and we got there an hour late, and she was just like, don't worry it’s ok. So we finally got to the dance and we visited with all the people she and I knew. And then we decided to dance. She couldn't dance with her shoes on, so she went and put them against the wall with all the other shoes. We danced, laughed and had a great time. After the dance was over we were getting all our stuff ready to go to the after party. So we looked at the wall and Rachel said my shoes are black with black straps(or something along those lines - I'm not a shoe expert). Anyway, we go to look for her shoes and ALL the shoes were black with straps!!! So I was like Rachel - just pick one. We finally found the shoes about 5 minutes later, and went to the after party. We had a great time. Chad Crandall
My favorite moment is seeing Rachel grow from a cute preteen girl into a beautiful young lady! God has blessed you with a radiant smile! Keep on shining for Jesus.
Hi Rachel and Family, I have two memorable moments. The first is the powerful feeling of understand that swept over me the first time I hear the song on your website, "Through My Daughter's Eyes." I had never heard the song before. It gave me a chance to better understand the relationship between you and your mother. It also gave me a moment of tender devotion thinking of my two daughters who live across the country from me. The second memorable moment came the first time there was an announcement that your white blood count had started up. I just shouted, "YOU GO GIRL! COME ON RACHEL, YOU CAN DO THIS WITH GOD'S HELP AND THE PRAYERS OF SO MANY, MANY PEOPLE" Every day now, I just click in to celebrate how much higher your white blood count is. Keep those memorable moments coming. If you can, save your e-mail, it would make a powerful book when all this is behind you. Love, Jan Winston, Jackson, MS.
My favorite Rachel moment was at Claire's birthday party. I'm not exactly the best dancer on earth and Rachel was trying to teach me how to dance. She basically just said to move to the beat of the music, but I think that I was hearing the wrong beat or something because I just wasn't getting it. I'm working on it though so I can bust a move one day and make her proud. Ha ha. I know I will never forget that moment. Meredith
One Sunday after church, a sweet moment with Rachel was when, after her first round of chemo, and her hair had grown back enough, she had put it up in the cutest little pony tails on each side. I said, “You’ve been waiting a while to do that, haven’t you? It looks great!” She just smiled that beautiful, heart-warming smile, kind of dipped her head and responded, “Yes, m’am, I have, thank you.” Judy Brough
WOWW!!! there are sooo many!! but to start off---the draft, all the awesome beach trips.... just hangin out bein' kids.... jordan bone asked her to marry him!! pop peeps.... she is an awesome psychiatrist.... she is the best friend anyone could ever hope for and im glad ive known her so long! and from way back when: "doo-doo balls"--(the hair do) ... there are so many more fun times i’ve had with rachel in my life and i really appreciate her being such a sweet friend and a great person.......her spirit shows in everything she does... she is so special!!!! love you rach!!!!!
maggs
I am not necessarily a friend of Rachel, nor am I a peer. I am the mother of a friend of Rachel. As such, I appreciate one quality in Rachel more than any other. (And there are many wonderful qualities.) The quality I appreciate in her is kindness. Toward everyone. She is not a respecter of persons. What a gift. May we all practice such kindness toward one another. The world would be a much better place to live in. Rachel, I see your white counts are climbing! You go girl! We want you back! I'm out here in Arkansas with my beloved husband. He's set to have a bone marrow transplant next week. I pray that you will soon be well enough to get one yourself, and that it will go well and give you a new lease on life. I love you dearly, Rachel. Charlie and I are praying for you daily, as are all our children, Katy, Abby, Monica and John. God bless you, God bless you, God bless you. In Christ, Becky Richburg
4/23/04 My favorite moment with Rachel was when her Dad and I told her we were having a baby. It was her 15th birthday and we went to her grandparents house in Union Springs and I got a baby bib and had "My Sister Loves Me" printed on it. We let her open all of her presents in the car except for that one. When we got the whole family around we let her unwrap it. She didn't even pull the whole thing out and started screaming and running around the whole house. She grabbed me and hugged me and she cried which made me cry even worse and she immediately started screaming that she knew it was a girl already. My second favorite moment is when we got to tell her it was a girl. She was at camp and called me at 8:00 that morning wondering if I had gone to the doctor yet, but my appointment was not until 2:00. She called around 3:30 and we had just found out and I asked her again what she wanted and she said "Oh please don't tease me Rachelle, I can't take it." I then told her it was a girl and she started screaming so loud - I handed the phone to her dad so he could hear her and all she kept saying to him was "Oh Daddy I'm so happy, I'm crying - I love you Daddy - I love you Daddy - I'm having a baby sister. I can't believe it!!!" She was so happy and has loved her sister so much since the day she was born (actually even before). Rachel is so much like her father. She has his sweet disposition, his looks and even his toes. She also has his wonderful heart and I can't wait until she gets better so she can drive over here to see her dad, me and her baby sister, Bella all the time. - Rachelle -
Favorite moments with Rachel - Wow!! I'm not sure that I can name them all...that would probably take up way to much space!! First off Rach is a great psychiatrist. she always knows just what to do. It was so much fun when we went to the beach...just the "Pop Peeps"...and Rachel had the little incident with the green swimsuit. Then we all put on that tanning stuff that made the blood rise to the skin and it kinda made your skin burn. Rachel like freaked out and ran out to the pool and jumped in. I swear she thought she was going to die!! Then she and Dandi got their ears double pierced!! Another one of my fave memories is when we went to Gatlinburg with BYG. We were really hungry one night so we went to this fudge place. There was this mexican guy there that was being really flirty with us. We ended up walking away from there with 4 POUNDS of fudge!! Then we went to sit on one of the benches along the road where all these people drove their cars up and down the road like the whole night!!(the road was jam packed) Rachel was being soooo crazy like yelling at cute guys and stuff!! It was so much fun! I've missed having you around Rachel! I laugh more with you then any other person I know!! You're a wonderful friend and you're great personality always shines through!! I LOVE YOU!! Sarah B.
In 1995 on April 29th, Rachel and her cousins, Lucy Bartholomew and Elizabeth Rose Rand, were bare-foot flower girls in Cooper and Alison Rutland's wedding in Opp, Alabama. All the people attending the wedding, were delighted to see three little girls who were dressed in fancy, fancy dresses and wearing no shoes. I have the photo of Alison and the three beautiful bare-foot little girls on my table so that every day that I open my eyes, I see them. I love this photo and I love Rachie! auntee Judy
ha ha, wow... the time Rachel and i were spending the night at Fran's house... Halloween nite, and that afternoon laying on Mrs. Gunnells' bedroom floor playing with Skye... that afternoon/night/next day was sooooo awesome. I definitely have some memorable moments from those days with Rachel... like "fill me in", staying up late in the basement, and the open water bottle spilling all over me in the car... that was great! i love you rachel!
My most memorable moment was our d-group dance parties! They were awesome! Especially at ski trip! We stayed up till 2:00 a.m. and danced, even though we had to get up at 6 that morning! Oh yeah, i feel a woop comin' on! Tootsie Roll! oh yeah! Morgan Long
My most memorable moment with Rachel was at Ally's 15th Birthday Party. We had a scavenger hunt around town. We were divided into two groups. Jerry(Ally's Dad) had one group of girls, and I had a second group of girls of which Rachel was one of my group. The scavanger hunt was a timed competition. Rachel was up for the challenge!!! We were in route back to our home, thinking we were most definitely going to be the winner of the scavenger hunt, UNTIL, I got pulled over for SPEEDING in our neighborhood. As I pull off to receive my ticket, my group notices that Jerry's group is stopped just ahead of us at the lake getting their last scavenger picture. We were about to lose the competition, so my group.... Rachel, Megan, Laura, and Kara proceed to get out of my car and begin running down our street to win the competition. It was hillarious!!! Mrs. Cindy/ Ally's Mom
We have so many wonderful memories of Rachel spending time with Leslie. One of our favorite memories was when Rachel was six years old and spending the night with Leslie. When they got ready to go to bed, Rachel got homesick and wanted to go home. We hated to call Marla and Richard and wake them up, so we told Rachel to lie still for 10 minutes and close her eyes and if she didn't go sleep we would take her home. Little did we know that Rachel had just gotten a new watch with a timer on it. To our surprise Rachel came downstairs and said, "Mr. Larry, you said if I didn't go to sleep in 10 minutes you'd take me home. I set the alarm on my watch and it's been 10 minutes and now I'm ready to go home." So we ended up calling Marla and Rachel went home. This memory was the first to come to our minds and we still smile everytime we think about it. With loving memories of you, Larry and Phyllis Crocker
One of my favorite moments w/ Rachel was this past summer when me and her were spending the night at the Gunnells’ house after we had gone to the Summit w/ Fran, John, and Jonathan. Me, Fran, and Rachel all fell asleep on Frances’ bottom bunk bed. We stayed up for the longest time talking about EVERYTHING. One of the guys said he overheard something we said because he was in the attic, and that same guy happened to be one of the guys we had been talking about. Haha so that wasn’t good. But that night was SO much fun. Another memory I have with her is when me, Fran, John, and Jonathan came to visit her in the hospital. We brought Major Payne and ordered a pizza. Then we all walked around the hospital talking. I remember feeling so awful for her after we left. I gave her a big hug and told her how much I loved her. It was so hard for me to leave. I was so mad at how someone as sweet and loving as Rachel was having to go through all of this. KEEP FIGHTING RACHEL! I MISS YOU SO MUCH AND CAN’T WAIT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!!! - Cia
Rachel, I have been racking my brain trying to think of my favorite moment of your childhood. I keep remembering when Richard asked your Mom to marry him. He said he gave you the ring he chose to ask her . I guess you were about 2(?) and you toddled in and gave it to her. I think that was the best decision of his life. Apparently Rachelle is just as wonderful to Bubba as well. Though we have never met Marla always says she "lights up the room when she walks in." That is so evident in her letters to you. So, apparently you have been forming bonds even when you could barely walk! Through your walk so far, you have formed bonds with people that will be around long after we are all in heaven. Know how much I love you, have loved watching you grow and turning into the most beautiful of teenagers! You are truly a blessing. Much Love, Miss Kim
My favorite time spent with rachel wasnt a moment, but a season of junior high basketball cheerleading...forgetting cheers, laughing, crackin' jokes, and getting in trouble with our cheerleading sponsor (you know who I mean rachel!) ahhh...good times w/ pompoms. I also really enjoyed being with rachel in Christine Dow's D-group...it was really awesome getting to know her all over again. Merilyn Hand
Of course the day she was born-what a happy day!!! The most beautiful baby ever born!! Then when she was a toddler her favorite song was Trisha Yearwood's "She's In Love With the Boy" Bubba had bought a single cassette of it and Rachel played and sang it over and over all the way from Birmingham to Union Springs. Rachel knew all the words and sang it with her little girl lisp and emphasis. Sooooo cute. As she got older one of her delights was to drive up the hill to my house from Brandy's and Daddy Walt's, sitting in my lap with a little help to keep it between the ditches. Then she graduated to sitting in the driver's seat and "driving" in the pasture with Bubba. Rachel always delights in the little, fun things of life and I love observing her happiness and delight. But I guess the most precious moments have been at Christmas when all the children gathered under the Christmas tree at Brandy's and Daddy Walt's house. Being the oldest of this group Rachel would always hold and settle a baby for the picture taking. She is always so gentle and nuturing with the little ones. She is a precious and gentle young lady who gives all of us memorable moments everyday. Love to you always, Aunt Janet
I'd have to say that my most memorable moment with Rachel was on the way up to Breckenridge. We talked a lot & started to get to know each other. It was about a 26 hr. bus ride :-\ so, it was a good time to get to know her. She's one of those that likes to talk a lot. I think i got maybe 2 hrs of sleep that night because of that, but it was really great. For a few of the weeks following Breckenridge, I gave her rides home from church, which that was pretty fun, cuz we were rockin out to some switchfoot 8-). We love you Rachel, & are praying for you everyday. There's more people than you know, that are praying for you. Keep up the fight. Josh Vigneulle
Dear Friends and Family of Rachel, My favorite memories of Rachel through the years have been seeing her beautiful face in all of the school activities at Briarwood. Because she and my daughter D.K. shared classes and friends I got to see her often. Rachel was one of the girls that did not change. She was as sweet in the 6th grade as in kindergarten. She was as sweet and polite in making a point to say hello to me when she was 15 as when she was 6 years old. Her eyes always sparkled in a friendly fun way...I don't remember seeing her without a smile. At times the smile may have been shy or it may have been friendly while at other times laughing...but she always had a pleasant look on her face when I saw her. These are the things a "grown up" remembers...the manner in which a child grows older...are they still sweet, kind or friendly or do they begin to not meet your eye any longer? I just called my mother about Rachel because she remembers her as well from being at so many school activities...she couldn't talk for the tears and had to get off the phone from being choked up... What kind of child causes a grandmother from another town to have such a reaction? A child like Rachel... There is a verse in the Bible that says "Even a child is known by their conduct"...This means that even a child has a reputation by their manner and words... Rachel had a reputation parents can be thankful for...We do not grieve for Rachel because we are assured of her in the arms of Jesus even this day...but I grieve for her parents and all of us who must wait to see her again...but that day WILL come...praise the Lord. Kim Kreis
6/12/04 I remember we went camping together. It was so much fun. We went with St. Matthews Episcopal Church’s youth group. I looked up to her so much. She had sort of just gone through the whole junior high stage and I was just getting in it. We talked about so many things and she helped me a lot. It was awesome.
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