I met Shelley at work around 1997.  We worked together at two agencies over the years, adventured together, climbed together, lived together for a short time, and she introduced me to my husband.  She was there for my daughter. She made me laugh more than anyone and brought out the best in me.  I don’t know how many times I’ve said to my husband on a hard climb, “I wouldn’t be whining like this if Shelley were here.  I’d suck it up.”  Until Robert told me she had passed, I never believed she it was possible she could die.  When I heard the news, I thought there she goes again leading the way for us on the next great adventure.  She will be greatly missed. 

Celebration of Life Service
Shelley's Celebration of Life Service was held at 1 pm (EST) on January 7, 2023, at the Coral Sands Inn, Ormond Beach, Florida (just N. of Daytona), Shelley's hometown. Her service was live-streamed. For those who couldn't attend in person, click the link (or copy and paste into a new browser) to watch a recording of the full service...  https://www.facebook.com/events/477981597833087. 

My journey with Shelley started at age 11 when we were neighbors and hung around at the same neighborhood barn.  We  quickly became known as always being together and our two names became “MichelleandShelley. ‘ We talked fast and walked fast and got into our share of mischief. Very soon after we met, we were playing in a house that was under construction in our neighborhood and Shelley fell off of the second floor loft onto the concrete and broke both forearms. I ran for help.  The casts did not deter her as she did everything that she had done before breaking her arms equally as well and wore them as a badge of toughness. She was a natural on a horse, and as I was clutching for dear life on my western saddle and begging Shelley to trot and not gallop, she would be riding English or bareback and going full speed.  She could never sit still and was always wanting to ride bikes up to the grocery store or beach. We even roller skated there once in a while. If she thought I was being lazy she would kid about me being soft and doughy until she won the battle. I always felt better afterward and thanked her for being a sort of life/exercise coach way ahead of her time. She always wanted to push herself and make those around her better, even at a young age. I had to chuckle as I read some memories from the people who she trained with recently and I could relate. She always had some miles to run, or walk, or climb,or skate,  or bike…
    We remained friends through Junior and high school and went to the beach often in her yellow Jeep. We would blast the speakers with Hank Williams Jr‘s greatest hits and knew every word to every song. She’s the first person I think of when I hear any of his songs. We also took clog dancing lessons together.
   College and life took us to separate places geographically but we always made sure to meet up in Ormond Beach when we were going home to see family, or for the many weddings we attended or were a part of, and for class reunions. My only time in the Rocky Mountains was while visiting Shelley in Denver. How she enjoyed scaring me as we got close to the edges of railless cliffs in the car.  Once she had Jonah, we shared stories of motherhood when we met for hours sitting in the shallow waves of the ocean getting caught up whenever she came to town.
    Last November, four of us friends since elementary school finally decided to get together in Las Vegas since Jacquie and Shelley already live there. Unbeknownst to us, Shelley knew something wasn’t right with her body before that weekend but did not tell us as she didn’t want the weekend to be about her/that.  She couldn’t walk really far up and down the Strip which had me worried because that was not like her at all. She also didn’t want to miss a minute with us even though she lived right up the street. She chose to have a sleepover with us and wanted to lay up talking late into the night. I was on East Coast time and so sleepy, but it felt so fun having her next to me like we were back in fifth grade talking and laughing. We walked an outdoor mall the next day and she kept eyeing a super cute little velvet dress that she had tried on and decided not to buy. We were going to dinner at the Paris Hotel that night and we talked her into buying the dress. I’m so glad we did. She looked so great in it and seemed happy as can be as we took photos in the driveway. We went to the Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil and then the Paris restaurant. The next day we made art together in her and Robert’s backyard while talking and sipping wine and laughing and crying. She had bought four canvases and paint. I again found it an odd endeavor since none of us are very artistic, and plus I had pictured us hiking Red Rocks and wondered if I would be able to keep up with Shelley. I wanted her to notice that I’m not soft and that I was up for the task. Now we weren’t hiking. Once we found out the extent of Shelley’s illness so much of that weekend came into sharp focus. She knew that we needed every moment together and that every single one of those moments needed to count. That weekend will go down in my life as by far one of the most important.
     We had another weekend planned for this November but Shelley had to cancel a few weeks before. We were meeting in Savannah and she definitely wanted to do the horse and buggy ride. She said we would have to reschedule for January but our time with Shelley in January won’t  come in the way we planned.  Her heartbroken family and friends will see her off, until we meet again. In full sobs as I write this, I will pick my chin up and be strong as Shelley would want. As strong as she was through this battle. As strong as she was to not tell us what she was going through while we were together, and smile through all of it.  Did I say how happy I am that she bought the dress???I will love her and miss her always. 

Shelley was my boss for several years when she was the Director of the diversion counseling program in Colorado.  I was so blessed to have learned so much from her--about confidence, being an advocate for yourself and generally that sometimes it's ok to fake it until you make it (her words--she shared that she had to employ them at times--and I never would have known it!).  Shelley was tiny--strong, larger than life--but tiny.  She gave me my mantra of "small but mighty" to remind me that a person's size has nothing to do with the amount of respect they deserve or the size of the impact they can make on other's lives.  I often use this mantra to this day--and have always been grateful for Shelley's words of wisdom and sunshine she spread to those whose lives she touched.  She will be missed.

In the early 90’s I started a new job. My trainer was a young Shelley, tall energetic, confident and I found myself running just to keep up with her. She taught me everything I would ever need to know to be successful in life. I know that sounds crazy and yet it’s the truth. She taught me to be true to myself and that life lessons were to be leaned into, not avoided. I had reached a moment in life when my alcoholism got the best of me. I decided to go to a meeting. As I was driving there she pulled up next to me at a light and asked where I was going. I followed her lesson of truth and told her I was going to AA. She asked if I wanted her to go with me. I said yes. I lost every one of my other friends after that. They didn’t know how to be around me without the alcohol. Not Shelley, she was ride or die for life. I followed her into a supervisor position and then into buying a Seadoo. We moved into a house together in order to have a place to park the boats. It was work and/or water everyday. Until I met my wife and got married, it was probably the best year of my life. She taught about effortless intention, creating possibilities, and emotional growth. When she moved to Colorado, I thought I would never see her again. Such little faith. Shelley was forever and my trips to Colorado were epic. What will I do without her? Miss her and look forward to seeing her again in another time or space or on another plane. I will see her in my everyday interactions with nature, other people and animals. She is everywhere, as she always has been.

Spoiler alert! Shelley, Karen and I ran the Boston Marathon together October 11, 2021!!!

I met our beloved Shelley in Amarillo, TX when she was CEO of the Pavilion where my sister, Angie worked as an RN. Angie excitedly let me know "Shelley is a runner too and lives right across the park from you!" Well it doesn't take long for two early morning long distance runners to become besties. Little did I know the profound impact she would have on my life from that day forward. 

I knew from our very first run together that Shelley was a natural born athlete and later learned of her many accomplishments in a spectrum of sports and endeavors. I remember discussing my top-o-the-bucket-list race with Shelley and our other bestie/training partner/coach and 7 time Boston Marathoner, Karen. I mentioned how nearly impossible it is these days to qualify for the Boston Marathon on one of our 5 am-ers. Shelley and Karen didn't share my "I'll never qualify" sentiments. Shelley was all in from the get go and was an "anything is possible if you want it bad enough" kind of girl. Shelley's brother John had run Boston twice and she was there to cheer him on and now it was her turn to run. "Try harder" was John's motto and we adopted his mantra on our journey to our BQs (Boston Qualifiers). 

In 2019 after hundreds, if not thousands of miles run together, Shelley kicked my ass :-) at the Light at the End of the Tunnel marathon in North Bend, WA which was her very first marathon (remember the AMAZING athlete part?)! Luckily I squeaked by with a BQ as well so we were both thrilled to be headed to Boston. However, we all know the world shut down in 2020 so Boston was postponed and eventually scheduled but run virtually which Shelley ran in California. Then 2021 rolled around and again Boston was postponed but we were all three still qualified to run when the B.A.A. announced a Fall, limited field, in person race. Shelley, Karen and I excitedly began to plan the race we had been anticipating for ohhhhh so long! However, since Shelley was now in California so we were not training side by side on a daily basis she let us know that she was having some "undiagnosed" issues but her doctor had cleared her for 26.2 miles. She warned us that she had not been able to train as much as she had want to but we couldn't care less about how quickly we got to the finish line. We just wanted to enjoy the fruits of our labors, enjoy the day together and go earn our unicorns! 

Race day came along and the three of us fed off the energy of the crowd, took every photo op to memorialize the day, and chatted up a storm since none of us lived in the same state anymore. Shelley was in intense pain but pushed forward. Her body was not making it easy on her so we slowed to a walk around the half way point. Karen had family waiting for her so she needed to continue on and my knees were screaming at me when when I tried to walk. Our plan at that point was for me to walk with Shelley until I began to hurt too badly then I would run ahead and find the liveliest group of supporters on the side lines and hang out with them telling them all about Shelley and how she needed ALL THE SCREAMS when she came along. We did this routine well into the last miles of the marathon until I noticed how alarmingly swollen Shelley's right leg was. Not gunna lie, I freaked out. I wanted Shelley to call Robert but she sternly let me know that she was fine and would be crossing the finish line. I did not know at the time but Shelley was battling stage 4 CUP (cancer of unknow primary) and intentionally kept this information from me and Karen until she and her doctors had time to formulate a treatment plan.

Right on Boylston and Left on Hereford - the homestretch of the marathon was within our sight and I encouraged Shelley to "Run it in!" We had finally done it. We crossed the finish line of the Boston Marathon and earned our unicorn medals. That moment is so surreal for me as I am sure it was for Shelley. I would have never qualified if it hadn't been for Shelley. I like to think that Shelley got me to the start line and I got her to the finish line. We made one hell of a team and I will miss her forever.