PERSONAL NARRATIVE

Standing up on the bluff looking at the world below it finally hit me that this was it. This is what happens in real life, and she’s never coming back. Tears start streaming down my face as all the emotion of what had happened exactly one year ago started filling my mind.

September 16th, 2009 started just like any other day. It was a Wednesday, so the week wasn’t over just yet. After hearing my mother yell “Turn that damn alarm clock off!” about twenty times, I finally listened and get myself out of my warm, comfy bed. An hour or so of doing a normal morning routine I get in my car and head off to school. As the day goes on it felt like any normal school day; slow paced, boring and a waste of my time. I dragged myself from College Prep, to Psychology 2, to Advanced Civics 2 then to my lunch/release period. I could finally go home to do what I love best; sleep. Taking a good nap was something I was looking forward to all day; so from about 12:45 to 3:00pm I dozed off then sprang up with what little energy I gained. Since it was a Wednesday it was time for me to work. Work actually excited me because it was that time I had to get away from thinking about school or pleasing my family and getting a chance to laugh with my co-workers and have conversation as I waited on my customers.

9:30pm rolls around and I hear, “We’re done!” from my manager. “Thank God” I say to myself, because it had been a slow night. I ran over to the windows to shut the open signs off and sprinted to the doors to lock them as quick as I could so no customers could sneak in. After closing I went home and did what I do best…sit on Facebook. As soon as I logged on, I knew something was very, very wrong. Everyone’s status and messages to one another were depressing and had something to do with “RIP Rachel” or “RIP RMC”. My armpits started to sweat, and my face was getting flushed realizing that someone died; and it was obviously someone I knew. I racked my brain for someone I knew named Rachel, with the initials RMC. All of a sudden, like a ton of bricks, it hit me; Rachel Maxine Cody. In shock, sitting there staring at the computer screen, my cell phone starts vibrating; my best friend, Denali, was calling.

I answered, “h-hello.”

“Are you home yet? Did you hear?” her voice quivered into the phone.

Sighing heavily, I replied “Yeah, I see it all over Facebook. What happened?”


“She fell off the bluff.”


“What do you mean she “fell” off the bluff?” I said in confusion.

“She went out past the fence and the ground fell from underneath her. She was only a few feet from the fence. This is so crazy.”

We only talked for a few more minutes, and then I just sat there staring at my computer in shock. I didn’t do anything that night. I couldn’t do homework, I didn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, I was just so upset and confused on why this was happening, why her? It did not actually kick in to full effect, of what was going on until the next day at school. The senior class did not have to attend classes if they did not wish; however, they needed to stay on schools property unless released by a parent. My close friends, forty to fifty seniors and myself, gathered in the “circle of life” where three hallways meet. Together we were able to confide in one another and grieve the loss of someone so amazing. Although we did not all get along, everyone pushed aside their prior fights and grudges and helped their classmates cope with the heartbreak of losing a friend. I never would have imagined that something so awful and tragic could bring out the best in each person and bring us all closer; which is exactly what Rachel would have wanted us to do.

Rachel Maxine Cody was not your normal senior high school student. She was an exceptional human being. She was a smart student, brilliant actress and had a quirky, creative personality. It didn’t matter if you knew her or not, if she passed you in the hallway or saw you on the street, you would get a “hello!” with a smile, as she went on her way. Involved in many school, church and community activities many, many people knew and loved her. Most knew her for her great personality, addiction to coffee and her talent for acting in the schools plays and musicals. She wrote her “about me” on Facebook perfectly. “I’m an addict to the bean. Persistent. Optimistic. Outgoing. Adventurous. Love my friends. Have no enemies. You may dislike me. That’s fine, I don’t dislike you. I love listening. Come tell me about your day.” The night before her death she posted, “Louder than sirens. Louder than bells. Sweeter than Heaven. Hotter than Hell.”

For a moment in time, my life was frozen. It didn’t really continue on until after I got some closure from her wake and funeral. Those two consecutive days were some of the hardest things I’ve ever had to go through. Seeing all of her loved ones and everyone who knew her and how they were affected by this was a terrible thing to have to see. Hundreds of people showed up, and my best friends and I were there to witness it all. The emotion and expression on her parents face, I can recall in an instant. I cannot imagine the pain they were going through, from the time they got that call from police until that day, and for every day for the rest of their lives. Her parents are two of the strongest individuals I have ever seen. To stand there and discuss the life of their daughter and see her lifeless body in a casket, unable to do a thing, took major strength. I remember her mother saying to a teacher, that “I have no tears. They have all disappeared. All I can do is stay strong for my family and move forward, how Rachel would have wanted me to.”

The moment when Rachel’s feet were swept out from under her was at the exact time she was photographing a rock formation on the bluff called “Jesus Point”. Father Pat Umberger stated that “She was searching for something bigger than herself.”

To me I believe it’s true when they say only the good die young. Holmen, Wisconsin has lost several outstanding students, most of who I have known. Tragic things have been happening over the years, every year, and the lives that have been lost are of those who have impacted the most people.

To this day it is still hard for me to fathom that she is gone. All the things that I have experienced since then and will experience in the future, she will never be able to. She will never get to finish high school, be considered an adult, get married, and watch her children grow or go to college. She has inspired me to be a better person, and I guess it took her death to really show me how amazing a person can be. She crosses my mind often and I can say with confidence that this girl, Rachel Maxine Cody, has impacted my life. I will never forget her beautiful smile, or how good she could make a person feel by just talking to or being with her. Chills run through my body and my eyes swell with tears just thinking about her. I continuously ask myself, “Why her?” The only answer I have ever came up with, was that God needed her and it was her time to go. She is in my heart forever and will be missed greatly, not only by myself, but for hundreds of people who knew her.

“To know Rachel is to have been changed. To miss her is to know love. As I knew you, Rachel Maxine Cody, I have been changed.” ~ Kam-Lin Roswall, Language Arts Teacher/Theater Director

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdMuxKNM9z4