Catherine's nature from the very start

was a lovely smile with the kindest heart.

She believed in justice, equality and peace

and longed to help poverty and hunger cease.

She relished nature hikes and walks in the park

and never said no to brunch at the Skylark.

New York cheesecake was her favorite sin,

so in her spare time she worked out at the gym.

At the farm she rode horses and cuddled puppy dogs.

Outdoors she led bootcamps and went on brisk jogs.

She got a kick out of celebrity gossip and politics,

human rights documentaries, and indie film flicks.

She enjoyed Scandal and Downtown Abbey,

How to Get Away with Murder, and Grey's Anatomy.

But not as much as the New York Times,

CNN, BBC,  Al Jazeera and  Dateline.

Generous with both her words and her deeds

yet she rarely revealed her own wishes and needs.

She made us feel better even when she was sad

and  hid from us the melancholy she had.

A compassionate soul like Catherine is rare;

an extraordinary friend beyond compare.

But one rainy evening at a park in June,

the story of her life ended tragically soon.

It should not have been Catherine's time to go

and we'll miss her much more than she'll ever know.

But all is not lost, I will not fall apart,

for Catherine will forever live on in my heart.

I don't have a good memory, at this point in my life I forget alot of stuff. I'm sure we all forget things that are not so meaningful, things that we just let flutter out of our minds.
One of my earliest memories as a child was the Sheerin sisters performing the Irish Jig for what seemed like at the time, a huge town performance! I couldn't tell one from the other as you all looked exactly the same to me. The only difference was your height. I still remember the dresses you had and how it seemed that you all danced perfectly in time with one another. I'm not sure if Pleasant Mount was ready for the Irish invasion, but like it or not you were there to stay! (Thanks Kenny!)

Growing up in a super small town your neighbors become more than neighbors, they become family. 
Suzanne and I were closest in age to each other, and it was pretty common for us to have friends come over and hang out throughout the summer months. Suzy would have the girls over her house and I would have the guys over mine. Kids being kids, we did alot of funny stuff, stuff that any mother or bigger sister for that matter, would usually discipline their younger sibling for. Cathy, with such a calm and loving manner, seemed like she always had a watchful eye over all of us making sure things never got out of hand. I can not recall a single moment when Cathy ever got upset because we were bothering her, even when Suzanne and I would play Nintendo (super mario brothers,) late into the night. She would usually join in or just hang out on the couch next to us.

I'd like to think that the goofy stuff we came up with as kids was absoluetly "normal," and looking back on it- i could only hope that my kids have friends that are as close as family, as you all were towards us Greig kids. 

It has been many years since I last saw Cathy, but that does not diminish the fond memories that I will always carry with me, of her. Her laugh, her smile and her light- will always shine in my book of memories from childhood. Im glad for all the great memories that I can associate with Cathy and the way she always seemed to watch over me as my "big sister."