Dear Ellen, Frank and Michael,

You’ve asked for memories of Kate – and our first thought is that we wish we had more.

Kate was one of Deb’s few friends who would come out to our house without considering it a trek. After all she was an adventurer. She wouldn’t settle for second-best which makes me feel all the more honored that Deb was one of her two best friends. During their senior year, she wrote us a beautiful note telling us how important her friendship with Deb was to her (why didn’t I keep that note!!)

We were fortunate to have Kate join us for our annual New Year’s Eve lobster dinner and for the last few hours of the twentieth century. Even though she loved cooking, Kate had never eaten a whole lobster before and wasn’t particularly keen on the idea. But she let us introduce her to our lobster-eating rituals and we laughed and had a great time (although I doubt that Kate ate lobster again).

Then, of course, there were the knives. Kate practiced her spiel on us and we bought a few. The spreader is now my favorite utensil and I use it every day. We don’t think that she really enjoyed selling knives, but we remember that Kate desperately wanted to make some money that summer.

We will never forget Kate – we’ll think of her every day when I use my spreader, when we walk outside and see snow on mountains or wilderness trails. We’ll think of Kate in the evening when we look up at the sky and see the stars and say "where’s the Kate Svitek star?" And we’ll think of Kate when we see Deb and Jess – the two that should be three.

We share in your pain and deepest loss and want to be there to listen and cry and also to remember Kate with joy and laughter. That’s the way we picture Kate now – smiling and laughing and enjoying life.

Love,

Mel and John Harris