Katie Kelly

Happy 26th Birthday my Katie-Bug! I miss you so much. As happy a day as this always was for me, it is now one of my sad days when I am missing you so badly. I will NEVER forget the day they placed you in my arms right after you were born. You were so tiny and fragile. But sooooooooooo beautiful. That part never changed. The pain in my heart of losing you is only matched by the joy and love that you brought me in your short life. God knows the intense love I have in my heart for you. And of all t he joys I still have concerning you, the one most precious is knowing that you now dance at the feet of our Lord, Jesus Christ. No more pain, no more tears, no more torments...just pure joy for you. That brings me comfort. The Lord holds me up on this day. Because words can never express what's in my heart at this moment. I love you soooooooo much. Your Mama-dukes

My precious baby girl....I just can't get you off my mind. I miss you SO badly. Tell Jesus Hello for me. I love you with all of my heart.

It has taken me a while to get the strength to write something on here and still i would have to admit my stomach is doing flips right now as i type. I have so many memories that i could write on here it would probably crash the page. Katie was my best friend in the world and the love of my life. i have never loved anything and will never love anyone on this earth more then her! (Jesus being the only exception) I thought i would start these posts, since i m sure i will feel inspired to share more, with the day i met Katie. i met her on a Sunday afternoon i think, but it may have been a Monday afternoon i m not totally sure. it was a Beautiful August day in the year of 2005. The reason i cant recall which one of those days it is because i had tickets to either a Sunday night, or Monday night Ravens game. If your from Baltimore you know how us baltimorions Love our ravens, and if not just imagine the most dedicated die-hard football fans and times it by twenty and thats getting close. Anyways i was at my friends house which i lived when his girlfriend brought over the most beautiful, coolest, and all around most down to earth girl i have ever met to this day. She was simply stunning. We got along so great, gosh we had a blast. Like i said i had two tickets to a Nationally covered ravens game but when the time came to go i didnt wanna leave her side. Needless to say my friend wasnt very happy with me. Katie and i spent most of that evening together and i was in heaven. She left later that night after the game was well over, which by this point was the last thing on my mind, and my friend still couldnt beleive that I Josh Wheeler missed the game for a girl. They say that within Twenty Four hours after meeting your true love you know it. I say this is absolutely true! I knew it after she walked out of that door. This was confirmed the following day on the porch of that same apartment. We were out there talking and Katie looked right in my eyes as i stared into hers and something inside of me said that she was the one i was supposed to be with and take care of for the rest of our lives. From that day forward thats exactly what i did. I always felt that we would someday get married and Kate and i talked about that on several occasions, one happened to be just a few weeks before she passed at my brother wedding. Dew to the unforeseen circumstances that will not happen although i still plan on taking care of her and being apart of her family for the rest of my time here on earth, and for eternity after. With in every passing minute as the time span when i get to see Kate next widens, and in my head it feels like its never going to come, in reality that time span is shortening. Katie Marie Kelly will never be replaced, forgotten, and will not have died in vain! I love you Katie with every Atom of my being! Thanks Peggy for setting this up! I love you and also you Mark for with out you there would never have been the that Powerful,and Beautiful Light that burned inside your daughter! Love, Josh

Last time we were together: Riverbend Festival, Summer 2008, Chattanooga. Bluegrass and Little Big Town, with fireworks over the Tennessee. Great night.

I found a note today that you wrote to Buck when you were just a teenager telling him how much you loved him. You were just that way. Always writing to people and calling them and telling them how much you loved them. I am missing you SO much today and my heart feels like it's going to break. There will NEVER be another beautiful one like you, my love.

Today, on July 4th, Buck & I will be remembering Katie by shooting off fireworks that she had to the heavens where she is now. She was like those fireworks in our lives - brilliant, sparkly, sometimes loud, beautiful and not here for as long as we want them to be. I miss her so much that not a day goes by that isn't less because she's not here with me. I love you my Katie-bug. Happy 4th of July my precious one.

She was such a vibrate young lady. Always full of energy and life! Her spirit would uplift you and you couldn't help, but smile when she was around. The world would be a much greater place with more bouncy, bubbly people like Katie in it! We just need to remember that about her and make a difference in the way we present ourselves to others, so that we will have the kind of impact on others that she did.

She had the most strikingly beautiful green eyes I've ever seen. Her smile could light up a room. As tiny as she was in stature, her personality filled a room like a giant.