Saturday, February 18, 2023
Kathryn lived with such an authentic spirit, she was basically the personification of the phrase "dance like nobody's watching". She never let anything discourage her from enjoying life and she always encouraged others to do the same.
She was my first friend when I came to Canada. I still remember meeting her in the 3rd grade. She noticed I wouldn't go outside during recess and would sit alone in the empty classroom. She would try to get me to go outside to play with her, but since my English was poor at the time, standard forms of communication yielded no results. So everyday, she took my cardigan and cheekily wave it at the door of the classroom so that I would follow her outside. I can still picture her big smile and hear her indistinguishable laugh as I chased her to retrieve my cardigan. She always had creative ways to get results, and it obviously worked because we became best friends for the next 26 years.
We spent so many summers at the park flying kites, playing pretend magical girls or just laying in the grass looking at the clouds. And so many winters there taboggoning and ice skating. She gave me her old pair of ice skates and she spent hours holding me up by the arm teaching me how to skate, but would also leave me in the middle of the skating rink for me to find my way back to the edge, again with those creative ways to get results. She was always so kind and patient but had no problem being tough when she needed to be.
Even as a child, Kathryn was so compassionate. She loved animals and wanted to be a Marine Biologist. Her favorite animal was the white tiger but she loved all animals the same and had a pure sense of joy and excitement whenever she was around them. We would spend so much time at the Petland down the hill just to look at animals. During one of our trips to the pet store, she found an injured chickadee and brought it home to nurse back to health. She spent weeks tending to the bird until it was well enough to fly on its own. While most people would have overlooked a little bird laying in the grass, she saw a precious life worth saving. She was so devastated when her cat, Ivan got his paws on it, but when the bird disappeared from the bin, she had so much hope that it was just stunned and it flew away afterall. She always had such a hopeful and positive outlook during times of adversity.
In the 6th grade, we went to an overnight camp with our school and there was this activity where we all got different coloured post-it notes put on our foreheads, without speaking, we'd have to find others with the same colour. Without hesitation, the first thing she did was grab my hand and lead me to my colour. That was just the kind of thing she did, she always put others before herself and would drop everything to help people. She was always there for me no matter what.
I have so many stories of her selflessness, generosity and determination, I wouldn't be able to tell them all if I tried, there are just too many.
I don't think I can ever fully express how grateful I am that she was apart of my life. So much of me is because we got to grow up together. I'll always remember her humour and wit, her unique brand of silliness, her kind and caring nature and her penchant for life. And I know wherever she is now, she's dancing like nobody's watching.
