We'll miss you, Amanda.

David, KJ, KJ's girlfriend, and I went to Austin yesterday to hang out and shop. We had a nice day overall until a little before 5:00. I got a call from my mom telling me that my niece, Amanda, had been in a bad traffic accident in Brownwood. Amanda had lived with my parents this summer while her mom was in basic training for the National Guard. About 6:00, she called back and told me that Amanda was being flown to Scott & White in Temple. David dropped me in Temple with my Aunt Olene and returned to Waco to deliver KJ's girlfriend to her parents. Olene and I sat at the hospital with my sister, Sherry, and some of her family. (Sherry is my half-sister from my dad's first marriage.)

We knew Amanda was critical with a long list of graphic injuries, but still had hope. She had made it through the first surgery, but the docs couldn't get the internal bleeding stopped. I was soooo exhausted, that Olene drove me back to Waco a little before midnight. My parents had arrived about 20 minutes before I left. My mom called me half an hour after I left to tell me that the neurosurgeon had come in and said that Amanda had no brain function and was bleeding out. They had already given her 20 units of blood and her brain pressure would not come down. Amanda was on total life support. At 3:00 am, my sister made the decision not to continue trying to keep Amanda's blood pressure up. A little later, she decided to take Amanda off the vent. Amanda passed on shortly thereafter.

She was 17. She was supposed to graduate in 3 weeks. She had a boyfriend with marriage plans. She was supposed to join the military like her mom. Amanda lived everyday to the fullest and always had a plan A, B, C, and D.

All these pictures were taken this summer.