About Christine...

I've had so many people offer support of this project that never knew Christine...and they all want to help, even without knowing her. So, for all of you that never had the opportunity, I thought I'd take a moment here to share a little more about her and make it more personal for you.

I just watched a new movie tonight, Bride Wars. It made me a little reflective. For those of you that have seen it, I'm a little more Liv, and Christine was a little more Emma. Not that I'm proud of that, but it just makes me lucky to have had her as a friend (and by the end I'd like to think they realized they were lucky to have each other, at least that's how I'll sleep tonight).

Christine and I met through shared interests and our love of scrapbooking. We had mutual friends, and we got to be good friends when we planned a baby shower for one of them. It was so much fun, and we shared so many ideas and tastes, that she toyed with the idea of us opening a catering business together. She did love to cook, and had always wanted to go to culinary school. Me, I just thought that sounded like a ton of work….

She loved to entertain…beautiful china, great food, centerpieces, atmosphere. She always wanted her guests to feel pampered. We had a girl’s dinner party for her birthday one year. She put it on, mostly, and enjoyed every minute of it.

Christine was fervent in trying to create beautiful memories for her children. I know she succeeded because Abby had been sharing many with me soon after she passed. She had a hard time journaling on a page, but she loved to sit down with her kids and tell them stories behind the pictures in her scrapbooks. Preserving those family memories was important to her. She had a natural instinct for photography, and was starting to do family sittings.

She was open and approachable. The number of random strangers that would stop her in the store and carry on conversations with her had to be some world record. She always got comments about the kids…all that blonde, blonde hair. Once someone stopped her and asked her which twin was her favorite. She just had that kind of open, smile on her face, I guess.

Christine taught me things about love. She loved unconditionally, her family and her friends. She loved my children as her own and overlooked my faults. It is a rare individual that will do that. I miss her, but am so grateful that I am able to do this project for her family with all of you. Together we are keeping her memory alive, and I hope now you can feel you "knew" her. Maybe you know someone like her. If so, you are lucky.