Dear Sara,    Hard to believe it's been fifteen years since I first saw this short little girl in almost every single one of my classes at LU.  She looked cool & intelligent & I knew pretty quick I wanted to be her friend.  We ended up being grouped together for discussions & that was that.  Months later I saw your dad picking you up & I realized, hey I know that guy!  I recognized him as that nice guy who used to come into the store where I worked.  A couple of years later I met your mom when I tried hemming my own pants but ended up sewing the ankle holes shut.  Thankfully she was cool with having some domestically challenged stranger come over & welcomed me in.    I remember when you met this guy in Schreiber.  He was a Paramedic, his name was Brent & you thought he was so cute.  There were many chats in class when we were pretending to listen to Prof. Ariss & her feminist rampages.  So many late night msn messenger convos about what if this or what if that when going on all those Greyhound rides to visit him in "Schrei-beria"...  So many bonfires, drinks, smores, drinks, dancing, camping, drinks, poker games at Luke & Chars along with "the dip" & of course lets not forget a few drinks.  Gary still reminds me of you & he trying to get us out of the Proz & all the way to the city limits we were begging to stop anywhere they'd serve us another.  I believe the next day the slogan was, "you & Brent were begging like homeless people at Christmas".    You were so excited when you told me about your engagement.  Texting me pictures of your ring, talking about where you would have it, when it might be, texting me pics of you in the dresses, telling me what you liked about each one.  Asking me if we would come if it was somewhere different & me telling you, "it could be in Egypt & we would be there".   We never spoke over the phone but always had multiple conversations over e-mail, text, messenger, usually while we were supposed to be working.  From the endless short jokes, t-rex trying jabs & Gary scaring you wearing the Michael Myers mask at work, at home, and on Haunted Hay rides, telling you every time I heard "Patio Lanterns" on the radio, we got to know real well & love your angry little chipmunk face.    We've laughed, we've cried, we've laughed until we cried.  It's not that often you can just look at one of your friends & without saying anything know exactly what the other is thinking.  And in our case it was generally; this person is full of it, or it's time to go! Living so far apart the last couple of years & some of the ups and downs we've had, there was one night when we were talking & you said to me "I may not be there, but I am always here for you."    You had so many things that you wanted to do.  From going to Hogwarts & Harry Potter World, to visiting England, owning a small bookstore, owing your own record store, getting married.  No one could have prepared us for what has happened.  In the last few days so many have reminiced about your smile, your laugh, the way you warmed the room.  I haven't fully come to believe yet that we'll never see your face, hear that laugh, be on the receiving end of your sarcastic whit, get your book recommendations or reviews.  You were quick to provide sound practical advise & always slow to judge. In essence, it was the way you made people feel that made you who you were.  You were my sister.  You were the best friend a person could have.  I love you Sara.  We all do.