In Memory of Rachel

updated 11/14/10

"The presence of that absence is everywhere" -Edna St. Vincent Millay

"Butterflies.....not quite birds, as they were not quite flowers, mysterious and fascinating as are all indeterminate creatures." Elizabeth Goudge

"We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think its forever." Dr. Carl Sagan

November 15, 2023

Posted on November 15, 2022

I imagine that this is what Rachel would want to say to her friends . . .
To the living, I am gone.
To the sorrowful, I will return.
To the angry, I was cheated,
To the happy, I am at peace,
and to the faithful, I have never left.
I cannot be seen, but I can be heard.
So as you stand upon a shore, gazing at a
beautiful sea – remember me.
Remember me in your heart, your thoughts,
your memories of the times we loved, the times we cried, the times we fought,
the times we laughed.
For if you always think of me, I will never be gone.

Margaret Mead -

November 15, 2023
fill

November 15,2022
rsthat

artwk

November 15, 2016

No matter how much time has passed,
I still feel your touch,
see your light,
and will love you eternally.

Love and miss you...Mom & Dad

November 15, 2015

grat•i•tude (noun) . . . .

“The quality of being thankful, readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.”

Ten years ago today, our Rachel left this world. Her presence remains in our hearts and minds. Memories of her are a part of our hourly existence.

We live with the loss but we also live with gratitude for the kindness and thoughtfulness shown to us over the last ten years. We’ve received phone calls and cards, emails and text messages as well as anonymous gifts left on our steps over the years. All of those acts of kindness meant more than we can communicate to everyone. We are grateful for the love and sensitivity shown to us and to Rachel.

A grieving parent worries that their child will be forgotten. Because of our old friends, new friends, neighbors and co-workers, we are assured that Rachel will be remembered. She will live on in all of us . . . as long as we cherish our memories, say her name, and continue to connect with each other.

gratitude = thankfulness = love

Love to all, Toni & Denny

November 15,2012

Seven years ago ... one moment in time and Rachel was gone. One crucial moment and the force of spirit that was Rachel was quieted and all who knew her were changed forever.
Consciously, I try to remember everything about her, her voice, her laugh, her outrageousness, her insecurities, her problems, and her face that glowed with energy that I often noticed other people saw and it held their gaze. I remember Rachel until it becomes too painful. Her absence becomes too present and so enormous that I have to consciously change my train of thought.

Sometimes Rachel comes to me in dreams and indicates that she is well. She is ok. Recently, as I rocked my grandson, Rachel's youngest nephew, in a darkened room, I felt her presence surround us as if in a hug. It was reassuring and beautiful and sad.
To all of you who have been touched by Rachel, remember to light a candle as a symbol of the light that she brought to all of our lives and play some good music that you know she would've liked listening to with you. Just smile and remember Rachel for we are all better for having known her.

November 15, 2011
A poem written by Eric Mickelson

I drive by the white cross marker again.
How can it still affect me so much?
It happened months ago on a cold night.
She was so young and pretty.
Until it happens to you

She was my best friend’s daughter.
Her life was just starting to unfold.
The parts that would make her were being set.
All too quickly, the hope, the dreams, the future were gone.
Until it happens to you

Where do you go to forget the sorrow?
How do you remember the memories?
Without bringing out the pain?
The terrible daily conflict won’t go away.
Until it happens to you

Each time we meet, we hug and greet.
And each time give up some
Small anguish and pass it to me thru the embrace.
You have more to bear and I can accept some of your pain.
Until it happens to you

Maybe in my mind she isn’t gone.
I see her as she was and now as she will always be.
That's the problem she will never die from my memory.
Until it happens to you.

A poem written by Marc Bahnsen

Rachel -

The pain runs deep and the reality still has not yet set in.
All those talks we had concerning fate suddenly ring all too true.
Today the sky perfectly paints the color of my heart’s emptiness
November, forever draped in gray.

I didn’t understand that look in your eyes, the last time I saw you.
Little did I know that the slightest bit of infinity would soon slip in between us.
Now you get to see the sun all too soon and there is nowhere I can go to escape.
No longer will I be able to call you and Listen to my worries vanish with the wind.
All I have are your memories and the part of me who is a better person for knowing you.

I know this winter will be harder than the rest.
The trees stand bare, bracing themselves for the cold ahead.
You would always remind me that Spring will come again soon enough.
The green will grow back before our eyes

And the butterflies will break from their cocoons, flying toward freedom.
The sun will rise again and the skies will turn a beautiful blue.
The flowers will bloom and the gentle breeze will lay my anxieties to rest.
I will look upwards at the stars and know that I will always have someone looking out for me.

Time.
Time is now the only thing that separates us.

Rest easy, Kiddo

Rest easy and know that you forever brightened the day

For all those who loved you. - Marc

Your spirit touched so many hearts.

Remembering you with smiles and tears,

love and longing,

Dad, Mom and Rhys

On a windswept peak high in the Rocky Mountains, a part of me joined with nature and will reside in the beauty of Colorado forever. From me, a wild flower may sprout. I may reflect a ray of the warm summer sun or float through the air in the breezes of spring… part of me, released and free, yet bonded to the earth for eternity.

Photo Album

Rachel's Important Web Sites

A Grayslake college sophomore was killed Tuesday night when the car she was driving went off the road during a raging winter storm just north of Mankato, Minn., police said. Rachel Salomonson, 19, a 2004 graduate of Grayslake High School, was a sophomore at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She was employed by Patrick's On 3rd in St. Peter, MN.

Minnesota State Patrol Capt. Lori Betterton said the accident occurred during the height of the area's first winter storm. "The weather was exactly what you don't want to see: snow, high winds, cold and icy roads," said Betterton, describing the conditions at the time of the accident. She said Salomonson was driving a 1998 Chevrolet southbound on the four-lane U.S. Highway 169 just north of Mankato when she lost control of the car. She was alone in the car, Betterton said. The accident was reported at 9:24 p.m. "This was our first winter storm," the police captain said. "It was very icy, it was very cold." About two inches of snow had fallen and was being buffeted about by 20 to 40 mph winds, she added. Salomonson's car slid sideways across the narrow median into the northbound lanes where it was broadsided by a Chevrolet pickup truck, Betterton said. The driver of the truck, also driving alone, was treated for minor injuries and released from a local hospital, she said. Salomonson was pronounced dead at the scene.

This site was last updated 11/14/10