Thank you all for coming today. I don’t think Carrie would ever have thought she was loved and cared about by so many.

 

Let’s send up a prayer to the heavens for her.

 

"Heavenly Father, we come before You today with heavy hearts as we gather to remember, honor, and celebrate the life of CARRIE KASKY. We thank You for the gift of her life and the time we were blessed to share with her. In this time of grief, we ask for Your comforting presence to surround this family and all who mourn. Grant us peace, understanding, and the strength to support one another in the days ahead. Guide our thoughts and words today as we pay our respects. In Your holy name, we pray. Amen."  

 

Carrie was born St. Vincent’s Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 23, 1983. She was the younger ( by one minute) of twin girls born that day to Paul and Maryann Meiring who also had a son, Mitchell. The two girls , Colleen and Carolyn looked so much alike, that their Mom put stars on Colleen's clothes, and hearts on Carrie's to tell them apart. When they were 18, Colleen got a star tattoo, and Carrie got a heart.

 

She spent many happy childhood days at their cabin in Delphi, Indiana.Everybody in her extended family called her Little Carrie Sunshine.

 

Upon graduating from high school, she studied at Butler University in Indianapolis where she obtained a Bachelors Degree in Anthropology.

 

Her first marriage produced her two oldest children, Asher, 16 and Jill almost 12. Sadly, their dad passed away when they were very young and Carrie was on her own.

 

Then, on July 8th, 2018., she and some friends decided to go to a Trivia Night at a bar in Rensselaer, Indiana called Sprigz. That’s when she met Mike and he explained it to me as serendipitous. Love at first sight.

On June 8th, 2019, they were married.

 

Life eventually brought them to Arizona four years ago, where she built a new chapter with the people she loved most. She loved Arizona. She would look out at the sunsets and described it as living in a beautiful oil painting.

 

Carrie was devoted to her family. She was a wife to Mike and a proud mother to Asher, Jill, and Delilah. Everything she did was for them. Although she earned a degree in Anthropology, and she chose to work as a bartender and server because it was the best way to support her family. That says so much about the kind of person she was. She was driven by love. Carrie understood that success isn't always measured by the career you dreamed of. Sometimes it's measured by the sacrifices you're willing to make for the people you love. She worked hard every day, not because it was easy, but because her family meant everything to her.

 

Those of us who knew Carrie will remember more than her work ethic. We'll remember her kindness, her laughter. What I will remember the most and miss the most are the texts and phone calls at 3 or 4am. She knew I would be awake and would answer. Sometimes she would talk about her day at work and other times it would be about her children and sometimes she would ask my advice. 

 

Losing someone like Carrie leaves a space that can't truly be filled. But even in our grief, we can be grateful that we had the opportunity to know her. We can carry forward the way she lived her life: to work hard, to love deeply, to laugh often.

 

To Mike, Asher, Jill and Delilah, thank you for sharing her with all of us. We know that the love she gave you was the greatest part of who she was, and we hope you can find comfort in knowing that her kindness touched so many lives.

 

Carrie may no longer be with us in person, but her laughter still echoes in our memories, her strength lives on in those she loved, and her example reminds us to live with generosity, compassion, and joy.

 

This is a poem by David Harkins

 

You can shed tears that she is gone

Or you can smile because she has lived

You can close your eyes and pray that she will come back

Or you can open your eyes and see all that she has left

Your heart can be empty because you can’t see her

Or you can be full of the love that you shared

You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday

Or you can be happy for tomorrow BECAUSE of yesterday

You can remember her and only that she is gone

Or you can cherish her memory and let it live on

You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back

Or you can do what she would want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

 

Rest peacefully, Carrie. You were deeply loved and appreciated. You will never be forgotten.