"We need to find some common ground," says Craig (right) with brother Michael, 14.

(Page 2 of 2)

Rachel was such a good example of how to treat people. She was never fake. She was so real with people that everyone respected her. Rachel was her own person. I think of those funny hats she like to wear: a top hat, a fedora, a sailor hat, a Dr. Seuss hat. When she wore a floppy bucket hat, we called her Gilligan.

I don't want to sound like everything was perfect. We fought sometimes, and we could be bratty to each other. But she was a really good person who was passionate about so many things. She wanted to be a poet, an actress; she wanted to do missionary work. Rachel was secure with who she was. She was pretty, but she wasn't vain. She cut her hair short and dyed it maroon to get into her role in the school play. She played someone who was kind of freaky and looked different but was really a caring person underneath. The play was staged just a couple of weeks before she died.

I keep thinking about an assignment she did for photography class back around January. She took a picture of her hand and wrote a religious poem around it with lots of warm colors. "What if you were to die today.... Tomorrow is not a promise but a chance."

I thought it was brave of Rachel to be real with her classmates about her spiritual feelings. I don't think I'd have the nerve to do it.

I think it's good that people from around the world have poured out their feelings for Rachel and everyone else who got hurt that day. Her car was parked near the school for weeks, covered with things that people left there. It was like a memorial to her, with flowers and wreaths, stuffed animals, balloons, drawings, poems, and posters signed by lots of people. My younger brother Michael kept some of the things and put them on a table in his room, alongside pictures of Rachel. It's like his shrine to his big sister.

I know I have to move on eventually because I'll go crazy if I don't. But I don't want to forget Rachel. I want her memory to be strong. I want it to mean a lot. She wanted to reach out, to minister to people with her life. Now she's touching a lot of people with her death.

Click left arrow for page 1 of this article