Allison McCauley
Thank you to the city and county police departments for their professionalism during the funeral procession, the Georgia State Patrol, the Rome Fire Department, Jennings Funeral Home staff, the staff at Oaknoll Memorial Gardens, Armuchee High School faculty, students and staff, the Armuchee High School Marching Indians Band, Floyd Medical Center and the intensive-care unit, nurses, doctors, rescuers and ambulance crews, Piggy Wiggly, Shorter College faculty, staff and students and friends. A special thank you to Reverend Brad Prater and Reverend Brad Dillard for officiating. Your kindness and prayers are deeply appreciated.
If our daughter's death helped but one person, it was not in vain. She was a kind person who truly cared about life. Allison never knew hate. She took people at face value and then looked into their hearts and souls. She did not judge anyone for their status in life, the color of their skin or in the ways they decided to live their lives. She knew that she was not the judge of such things.
One of her former teachers wrote to us, "Allison never judged other students by what they wore, looked like or even how they behaved. She saw the good in everyone. She was able to get along with all of her classmates. She could talk to the students who were in the "in crowd" and she could talk to those students who desired not to talk to anyone at all. I wish more students were like her. I think they would enjoy life more if they would accept themselves and others."
We miss our daughter greatly but we know that we will be united with her again one day. Parents and children, love and cherish each other. You never know when that may be the last time you will see your loved one on this earth.
In her journal she had written that she wished the world were not so evil. She also wrote that she wanted to be a surgeon (trauma, emergency room) when she grew up. How ironic that was after seeing her in the ICU.
Be kind and reach out to others in need; that is what Allison did. She was and still is a great teacher. She did a lot of living in the 15 years and she was a happy young lady. A former Armuchee High School band director, Tony Daniel, said Allison did not like to be in the spotlight alone. (She played the trumpet and was quite good, but never wanted to play a solo). It was true in this case, also, so she decided to go around the same time as a famous race car driver, Dale Earnhardt.
Our hearts are broken but we know we will see her again. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time. We continue needing them.
Our daughter was an organ donor and we feel that she is continuing to help others now as she did on Earth.
We hope we have not left anyone out. The community has opened it's heart to us and we are deeply appreciative.
