I (Erin – Jamie’s hand on my shoulder in the below picture) have spent quite some time compiling my memories of Jamie. Early on I wanted to make sure I shared everything. Silly, I know, especially because there’s much that I’ve left out. I have so many special memories of Jamie. It’s an honor to share those memories and what her friendship meant to me. 
Jamie and I developed a friendship our freshman year at Conestoga High School. My first “real” memory was during pre-season for soccer that year. We were sitting alone on the concrete, surrounded by everyone’s equipment bags, putting on our cleats. Jamie pulled her strings very tight, checked to make sure no one could hear her, leaned towards me, grinned and said, “I think we made varsity!” Sure enough, we did ;). We were the only ones from our class to make ‘Stoga’s varsity soccer team our freshman, sophomore and junior year. We formed a special bond.
The day we got our uniforms. J sat next to me, “I hope no one already has #1. I reeeeeally hope no one has #1”. We went in to choose our uniforms by class, making Jamie and me the last to go. She held my arm and strained to see what number each player before us came out holding. When a teammate walked by us she would ask, “What number are you? Did anyone take 1?” She did quite the happy dance when she found her official ‘Stoga uniform with a big old “1” on the back waiting for her on the gym floor Continue Reading →
John and Larkin turned 3 years old on November 17th. Paul had a relatively small gathering for their birthday with family and friends. John and Larkin enjoyed their many gifts, including their new (craigslist, gotta love it) train and lego table, and the adults enjoyed some great food, courtesy of Costco (shrimp cocktail, sandwich rolls, spinach salad) and some great 7 layer dip by Kathryn, corn dip by Sase, and salad by Nana. 
The kids enjoyed (yes, this includes Uncle Pete) playing baseball in the backyard with J & L’s new bases, and John enjoyed using his new baseball glove. I’m not sure who had the most fun; was it Conner Collicutt smashing the ball around the yard or was it Uncle Pete playing target practice while throwing out the runners going to home plate. Seriously, Pete went something like 12 for 14 on beaning the runner while they ran from 3rd to home and this was like from 40 feet. Kathryn made delicious cupcakes for everyone (blue for John, and pink and purple for Larkin – as requested). Alex, John and Larkin’s cousin, was also celebrating a birthday, his 4th birthday, and he is a speedster. He sprints from activity to activity and rarely stops to take a breath. Go Alex! Give that boy a baton and he’s going to make a name for himself.
The Kindem family enjoyed an early Thanksgiving meal at Nana and Bapa’s house the Saturday before Thanksgiving. John, Larkin, and Reagan enjoyed spending time with their extended family members. Nana’s sausage gravy is out of this world good and the families enjoyed good conversations, watching football, and playing with the kids.
Paul and kiddos made the trek to Philly for Thanksgiving this year. It was an easy decision because Jamie’s high school teammates organized a 5k run/walk in Jamie’s honor the Saturday following Thanksgiving and Paul really wanted to spend time with Doug, Nessa, and baby Aiden. It was a truly amazing event and I encourage everyone to see the family update (soon to come) about this event. Continue Reading →
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