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Spoken at Yizkor services at Temple Kol Emeth on October 6, 2003 by Barbara Andrews I visited my daughter’s grave today after services. I needed a good cry on this DAY OF ATONEMENT. I was feeling very angry, not very forgiving. How can I possibly tell you about Kimberly in 3 minutes to make her more than a picture on a tree in the TKE lobby? That she is loved and missed by family and friends is an understatement. Kimberly
was born on May 12, 1985 on Mother’s Day at Northside Hospital to Barbara and
Jay Andrews. She is the oldest grandchild on both sides of the Libowsky-Andrews
families – a 3rd generation Atlantan. Her
trademarks were her beautiful blue eyes that sparkled when she smiled, her
infectious laugh and her dark brown ringlets – hair she didn’t love until
she became a teenager. By age 7 she was a big sister to Joshua, born in March of
1991 and Tyler, born in September of 1992. This was a role that she cherished
most – being a role model for her brothers. At
age 6 she voiced that she could not be a brownie, because she didn’t look good
in brown. By 7 she was playing soccer. When Josh and Tyler began playing
baseball at Fullers Park, she was inspired to begin slow pitch softball at age
12. Her last softball tournament was in May of 2002 with all of her friends from
Pope, Lassiter and Sprayberry. Her
fifth grade teacher at Tritt impacted her the most – which defined her
vocation, teaching. Kimberly
never missed a baseball game or wrestling match that Josh & Tyler
participated in, unless she was scheduled to work. Her voice could be heard
above the rest, cheering her brothers on. She was recruited in high school to be
a wrestling manager – she was one of the few girls who actually knew how to
score. She was named the head wrestling manager for the 2002-2003 school year.
And of course there were the high school boys…. When
Kimberly decided she wanted a car and realized she had to work for it herself,
she got a job at Bagelicious just after turning 15. By fall she was working at
both Kroger and Sportsarama to save enough money for her car and insurance as
well as her “fun money. At
16, she was part of the Teacher’s Apprentice Program at Pope – for 2nd
and 5th grade at Tritt Elementary and 8th grade at
Hightower Trail Middle School. This cemented her desire of wanting to teach. On
June 12, 2002, just 17 years and 1 month old, Kimberly Nicole Andrews was a
passenger in a car of 6, where she and a friend were killed in a tragic car
accident on I-575. She was buried next to her paternal grandfather – who died
18 months earlier of cancer. For
Kimberly’s 18th birthday, I got a rose tattoo on my ankle – that
is what she was going to do when she turned 18. We
didn’t think anyone could love or miss her like we do. Kroger had a memorial
to her displayed for a month. The Pope Varsity Wrestling Coach renamed the Pope
Jr Classic to the Kim Andrews Classic. Held the first Saturday in January
each year, Kimberly was Coach Jim Haskin’s right arm for the event. The Pope
Jr Wrestling Club established an annual scholarship in her memory. A family
friend is building a garden in her memory. We were asked to participate in an
annual memorial blood drive held each February – Kimberly being one of 4 Pope
area children remembered. A scholarship is being set up for an aspiring teacher
at Pope. A beautiful garden at TKE in part to remember her. The
kimberlyandrews.com website continues to be a place her friends and family can
go and share their feelings. Kimberly
has not been forgotten by the people she impacted and by the ones that loved
her. I am still amazed by the stories people tell me about her and the many
people who knew her. Jay & I were truly blessed to have had her as our
daughter. Joshua and Tyler can be proud to have had such a wonderful sister. Our
hope is that she will be an inspiration to them in everything they do. We
will never understand why she was taken from us so soon. But we can make sure
her memory lives on. |