From the Czarina of Belarus

Dear Gretchen,
I feel like it's taken so long to write this, and that I still don't have it clear what I want to say. So I'm posting this letter to you to let you know that I miss you. It seems silly to say because we hadn't really been in close contact since high school. And it's hard to believe that's been ten years ...

But I miss knowing that you're out there. And I miss the possibility that we could be close again some day.

Gretchen made almost everything more fun -- gym class, working at Genuardi's, singing along ridiculously loud to Alanis Morisette in my car. (At left, that's Gretchen with me in the middle w/ crazy blond hair and Andrea at my high school graduation party. And there's Gretchen w/ Jamie.)

Part of the reason she made things more fun was that she seemed to have a generally positive outlook. She was quick to laugh and make a joke. She wasn't afraid to do things ... and she took you out of your comfort zone to go with her -- whether is was holding a nightly poll as we were checking out customers at the grocery store or ballroom dancing through Superfresh (why did we spend so much time in grocery stores?).

Gretchen always made people feel special. I was hoping to get this picture by now, but I still remember when she convinced my 14-year-old, middle-schooler brother to join us "big kids" at our boy-girl sleepover party for my 16th birthday. My brother thought he was it, and he had to do it on his terms -- by bringing down all the stuffed animals from his bed. She thought that was adorable.

Gretchen made people feel like they were important, and she had a radiance. A handful of guys have made a point to mention to me how big a crush they had on her. Of course it had been obvious at the time. People loved her, they just did.

It's been no surprise to me to see all these people posting fun and sweet stories about Gretchen, and it's warmed my heart to read them, to know that she continued to live great experiences. ... And we all wish there could have been more. We miss you, Gretchen.

ps -- at gretchen and christine's 16th and 17th birthday party, they assigned us all titles and we were "announced" as we came in, like royalty. i still remember "one night in bangkok" and that i was the czarina of belarus.