Morgan’s Memory

By Kyleigh Hawes

The day was calm and warm. A light breeze caressed my face as I slipped into my car to meet my best friend for her birthday lunch. I picked up a birthday card at a local dollar store, and then a friend called me about the news I was not yet ready to hear.

Morgan Renee Grimm, my high school best friend and co-captain on the Big Red Crew team of my senior year, had passed away in a tragic car accident in Salem, W.Va., just an hour before on her way home from college.

My world tilted as the news spun through my mind. I could not believe what I was hearing. None of it made sense. I hung up out of shock.

Morgan had an amazing future in front of her. She was a West Virginia University rower, and had just made the team as a freshman walk-on. She rowed all four years in high school and had succeeded well past her own expectations. She loved everyone and had the craziest sense of humor. No one saw this loss coming.

I do not have the words to express the loss of someone so beautiful, wonderful and amazing. She held the world in the palm of her hands, and no one will ever be able to replace the spot she holds in so many people’s lives, memories and hearts. She was far too young, far too intelligent, far too loved -when she was taken from the world, from all of us.

Each word written about her, each story told, does not even begin to describe the person she was. Her laugh, her sarcasm, everything about her memory continues on living through every person she impacted.

I am thankful for the people who stood strong throughout this time. I feel the heartache that passed through the family and friends who loved her so deeply. I feel the ripple that passes through the Big Red Crew team and family at the loss of their leader and inspiration.

Nothing and no one compares to the woman she became.

May she rest in peace, with a smile upon her face as she watches over her teams, family and friends.