Fox Motors Hockey Club

My hockey team played for Emma, our former teammate and friend, in our 2024 Hockey Fights Cancer game. On our sleeves is a flower she drew before her passing that continues today to show all the hearts she had touched during her life.

Dedicated to Emma, #71: 

I once knew a very special flower. 

She was rooted in passion, with such a gleaming fervor it was almost like the sun itself was reflecting her warmth. She filled barren landscapes with color, grey countryside with life, and the dull, tired hue of the saddest souls into spirits of life. 

She was the type of flower one would set their eyes on in a field and want to pick none other than her. The yellow sunflowers echoed her glow, and the daffodils were golden and gleaming like her smile. Her petals danced in the wind to a melody she played so gracefully for the world.

And then it started to rain one day. 

And with the rain came thunder, and with the thunder came lightning, and with that came questions. 

Questions. I think there are some questions that offer no proper justification. 

Like why the universe does things. Why some people must go. Why sickness creeps up on those who don’t deserve it. They lay in a desolate place, lingering like an evocative whisper to those facing them. Along with them come insoluble inquiries with insurmountable complexity, yearning for an answer or an explanation as to why this world works in the way it does and how to face the aftermath of its inexplicable decisions. In the void where such queries lay remains one of unimaginable magnitude: 

How could a flower so beautiful, so pure, and so incredibly compassionate be taken so young?

For such little time was not long enough for such a kind-hearted soul to live. 

 I think in times like these, it is best to think about what she would have done, with her personality so caring that she could find budding flowers among the overlooked, neglected dirt. She would have found a light in such darkness, a beam of hope in a situation so seemingly hopeless. I have learned a lot from her so admirable qualities that grew gorgeous plants in cracked, starving soil. For she flourished in the most broken places and grew in the most fractured soil. Her laugh brought the sun down for those who couldn’t find it for themselves. And at the same time, even the worst storms were not enough to diminish her spirit.  Even after being trampled upon, she rose again. Even amidst uncomprehensable adversity, she was able to grow gardens, orchards, and fields full of love.

She taught me how some of the strongest people come with the most gentle souls. And she planted seeds of unmatchable empathy and benevolence in gardens of weeds. And when the days seem the darkest, it is always a prompt to be reminded of how she lived her life : 

Courageous and beautiful and drenched in the sun.