February 21, 2020 our lives changed forever…our second daughter Kaitlyn Marie Eckelberry was killed in a terrible crash.  This crash was at the hands of an ALLEGED drunk/drug driver that is still in the court system, so not fully proven…soon we hope. 

 

 The loss of a child is not comprehendible by any of us.  We could have hated life, become withdrawn and certainly lost our faith in God and nobody would have blamed us.  However, our family decided to fight this overwhelming and unnecessary tragedy.  We have tried to strengthen our faith in God and turn this tragedy into “what would Katie want us to do” moments. 

 

There was such an outpouring of love and support.  Many asked what they could do.  There was an unusual “energy” of people wanting to get together at events for Katie and show their emotional and monetary support.  Her stories of caring blew us away!  We never gave her the credit she deserved.  We always thought that her becoming a Physician Assistant, college softball player, campus leader and mixing in some time for her love, Kane Elliot was why she was moving so fast in life.  That would have been enough for 99% of most people…not Katie!  What we didn’t know is that she wanted to make EVERYONE feel special and this took an amazing amount of her time as well. At such a young age, Kaitlyn had already developed an amazing legacy of helping others.  She loved to help those less fortunate and was greatly loved by many that called her friend. She took every last minute to make sure everyone she made contact with, had a friendly smile, caring thought and time.

 

With the initial generosity from our first few events and continued support we are going to help as many Katie’s Kids as we can for as long as we can.  Katie will be there with us as we lift up those that we can. 

 

From Lori, Jim, Kristina, Kortney, Damon & Kane - thank you so much in supporting our efforts and selfishly (for us) keeping Katie’s name alive by trying to make a difference.  From tragedy WE WILL continue Katie’s legacy of caring for others.  We love you all and God bless!