I had known Amelia best through her request off sheets for work and conversations with her mom Maureen. She was outrageously busy with athletics, academic pursuits and clubs, musical engagements (both vocal and instrumental), 4-H competitions, and obligations to her church, community, friends, along with extra tasks taking on at our workplace. She was outstanding and as mentioned at her funeral by her pastor, always running around from one activity to the next. And the thing about Amelia is how she excelled at seemingly every single one of her pursuits. She was an excellent soccer player, skier, student, an award-winning dog trainer, and she played I don't even know how many instruments. One of my favorite moments with her was hearing about a kayaking trip - this trip/route is known to be pretty intense, one that requires kayakers to take a course practicing flipping underwater in order to practice flipping back right-side up because drowning is a risk with the rough waters. When asked how this trip went, Amelia said, "It was fun!"
After Amelia was diagnosed with cancer, this perseverance and over achievement continued in the most Amelia way - she kept on being herself, graduating high school, completing a semester of college courses from her hospital bed, and living her best life while fighting so hard to beat cancer. She was the most positive person I know, and she always put others first whether she knew you well or just in passing. I still don't know how she did everything she did. As I begin to process her death, I liken her to Alexander Hamilton. The question, "Why do you write like you're running out of time?" reminds me of Amelia's incredible work ethic and talents. What she accomplished in her life is so much.