Emily Sandall Foundation

As  this tragedy tears at our hearts, and we question, and we deny, and cry, and yell….

We must realize she is gone.

Emu, Emily, Em. She is gone.

And that deserves tears and grief and time to heal.

But she will be remembered:

In song, in dance, in laughter, in memories, in photos,

and her smiles and smiles and smiles when no one else was smiling.

She was happy. She was passionate. She was intelligent. She was joyful.

And she was so much to so many people.

She will be missed. And she will be remembered.

We are all touched by how many of you have come.

From across the country. From your busy lives. From everything.

We are deeply touched and sincerely thankful for everything all of you have done to support our family. Your love is felt deeply.

And I personally want to thank those that have traveled here, who knew Emily elsewhere, and shared their stories and laughter. Shared with me stories of my sister and sides of her personality I had never seen or known.

Your grief, your love, your stories, your laughter. Thank you for sharing and grieving and coming. It means so much.

 Everyone. EVERYONE: thank you. Sincerely thank you, from our family.

And I’m so sorry for you all. For everyone that is affected by this, big or small.

She loved and appreciated everyone here, everyone that touched her life. 

I’m sorry the world lost someone so innocently joyful, but I comfort in the idea that the rest of us will live on through her. Through her passions, and adventures, and laughter.

And I comfort in the idea that she led a happy life. To the very end. So happy. So enthusiastic. So willing to try anything.

 It would take a dark day to wipe a smile off Emily’s face. And I will miss that (as many of you will), but I will treasure that and attempt to make it part of me.

And if Emily had a few last words to give to all her friends and family and acquaintances and random people on the street: I think she would say “Live life to the fullest. Be passionate about what you believe. And there is a never a bad time, never a bad place, and absolutely never an awkward enough moment, that you can’t just get up and dance.