I cannot imagine all of the gum I have swallowed when I was in Katie’s presence because she gave me that “look”. There was a 40-year difference in our age and yet at times I knew she was the one in charge. All she had to say was “Randeeroo” and I was a goner.

Katie, Nina and I attempted a number of projects together. The outcome of some of them was humbling. Just suffice it to say that the three of us should not have been allowed to be around gingerbread houses. Okay, one failure among so many successes!

I am in awe of Katie’s talents. From the moment she was a toddler she could be found drawing or painting. When she came to my house I would find doodles in books, attached to my phone and hanging on the walls. To see the work she produced in the last year of her life leaves me speechless. The art show that was hung in her honor made me so very proud. She truly had the soul of a poet, the heart of an artist and the mind of a warrior.

I was, and am, amazed and touched by the outpouring of love, friendship and kindness we have experienced from the people who knew and loved Katie. Her reach was profound, her talents enormous and her love was true. Rick and Johna’s accomplishments on the passage of Katie’s Law are remarkable and are the ultimate tribute to a daughter who is so loved.

I have met a number of people through this tragedy that have shared their lives, their homes, their hearts with me. I have learned so much from them and I am so very thankful for their presence in my life and the Bolka’s. I wish they knew Katie when she was alive so that they would know that I was just not bragging.

Life is not the same without our Katie. The sky is never quite the cerulean blue that she loved so much, Nina’s eyes do not sparkle with the lightness of being, Johna and Rick are broken and inconsolable, it is rare that any good news can lift our spirits. As Katie would have it, Nina’s accomplishments are what we all thrive on. The one thing that I am sure of is that Katie is so very proud of her sister.