Thursday after a fun hike with 3 friends I’m just checking emails and FB. SabinaNJake are tagged on a friends tribute… I can’t believe you are gone…What?!? Shock- I think I’m going to be sick- this can’t be real. Link to a news article— 41 yr old woman dies after 50 ft fall!! oh no!! This just can’t be real!! Why? No!! Not Sabrina!! I’m sobbing in the car — this isn’t right— this can’t be real!! My friend!
Oh no!!
I’m heartbroken for Jake. The kids. Gage- on a mission in the Philippines— no!!!!!!!
I just love that lady and I want to be more like her
Someone I know is my friend no matter how long it has been since we last spoke
Honest, real, loving, and kind
Seriously hilarious.
I wish she was my sister- the way she makes me laugh- her sense of humor just cracks me up. I love her entertaining tricks and funny rhymes.
So many fond memories- I want to there to be more!!
When we lived in Texas- Sabrina sent me a email message (maybe? I don’t really remember) and I have no idea who she is 😂😂 my husband Ben and her sister Cindy went to Evanston High school together. She knew we were going to be friends— I just didn’t know it yet. We have kids all about the same age— starting our families and friendships during this very busy residency in San Antonio.
! Sabrina is just so good- she invited me and the kids we got together even though we lived on opposite sides of town in San Antonio. Family visits at the hospital in Texas when babies were born— Brecon, Daxlee and Connor.
Jake won best dressed at our Tacky Sweater party wearing a tree skirt and cowboy hat. When he did a full spin we were all amazed and laughed and laughed!!
Germany- 2010-13 we lived across the country from each other but that didn’t stop Sabrina from making sure we still got together!! Wouldn’t you know it we also were pregnant together (Pippa and Brielle)
Fun trip to Disney Paris in March 2012 - they wouldn’t let me in the CARS ride (too pregnant) but Sabrina was able to sneak on 😂😂
Funny “five knives in your back…” Sabrina did the chant on Cael’s back— Cael responds… my turn to do it for you, but my version—it’s on your front. 😂😂
Sabrina knitted a pink owl hat for Brielle as a gift and I loved it!
March 2019 The Atwoods came to see us on Oahu! Such a fun family trip. Hikes,
Mermaid cave, and waterfalls! My mom and dad helped hold baby Henry at the beach and would leave and get dinner started if we were still out playing. Sabrina said “this trip has been so great. I’m only coming back to Hawaii if Richard and Kathi (Hoopes) are out here again!”
My dad laughs at Sabrina’s competitiveness— she wouldn’t let an old man win!
Sadly this was the last time we would see each other—
A few phone calls here and there Just to chat and catch up on all the good things the kids are up to. How busy but fun life could be. Loved that we could just pick up right where we were and talk about life and check in.
I always felt better talking to a Sabrina- she inspired me to be better and do better! You couldn’t help but feel good just being around such an awesome lady!!
We talked when Cael and Gage graduated and got their mission calls it was so exciting to congratulate each other and watch from across the distances. Our missionaries went into the MTC and headed out into the mission field around the same time. Our boys are coming home this year— it is so exciting.
Mar 2024 Sabrina asked me about Maui— I was sad they weren’t coming to see us on Oahu again 😢
Dec 2024 last texts asking for our address to send a Christmas card. I was struggling add so I didn’t feel like a phone call— how I wish I would have made that call to hear her voice and catch up!
I know there are so many people that were so lucky to have known this gem of a woman!! she was just always mindful of others and looking for ways to love and help other people.
I know that she was so happy in Grand Junction she they had found their landing spot- Jakes business, the kids were doing well!! So many adventures nearby horses and jeeps and boats and fun! I lived vicariously seeing all the good times the Atwoods were having together!! One phone call Sabrina was even was trying to recruit Ben and I to move to grand junction—we would seriously have so much fun together cheering on our kids and sending them off into the world.
But right now This doesn’t seem fair—
I was just thinking today about how I felt like Sabrina and I were so much alike — except she really is way cooler! So Clever, laughing so hard my face hurts hilarious, and then she was just so thoughtful and caring.
A high school friend wrote this and I think it put all my thoughts down after Sabrina’s funeral—
She lived a rich life. She loved deeply, loved God, loved neighbor and loved self, such a rare trifecta. At her funeral they said that she lived like her hair was on fire and her tail was to the wind, without great boundaries (this was spoken with endearing admiration and received by the congregation with knowing chuckles). She would tell her children when they were sad or sick- 'you poor little lamb”. If something sad happened- she would say “you can be sad today, but tomorrow it's time to pick yourself up and go do some good.'
She would invite people to do things all the time. When they would decline, she would insist, "come on, you know you love me". It often seemed like it wasn't a good time and I think sometimes others went along with her ideas to be polite, but left saying, "I didn't really want to do this, but it was exactly what I needed." She seemed to have known that from the start.
She knew what she loved; horses, singing, volleyball, hula, jeeping, hiking, mountain biking, art, people, her family, God. The greatest gift she gave others was herself, quirks and all, unapologetically. She invited them to be a part of her life, she seemed to know that who she was was worth sharing. I find myself thinking 'of course Sabrina was confident, she was gorgeous, thin, athletic, artistic, wealthy, intelligent, charismatic, witty, just so, so talented. If I were Sabrina I would be confident too.' But I know it was a choice. A choice to love others and love self, despite her insecurities. And it is a choice I can make even though I'm just a normal human. Sabrina seemed to see something worth reaching out to in me.
At the funeral I saw the power, unmistakable power, of Christ sustaining a family that was carrying a loss too heavy for any human to bear. Her husband, Jake, comforted me when I came to comfort him. He testified that God was holding him up. Jake spoke at the funeral. He promised his wife that they would find joy. Joy in basketball games, orchestra concerts, and ordinary moments. He invited us to do the same. "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy."
As far as being in Sabrina's inner circle, I was not, but I find myself feeling like I was. Twice I have felt her presence since she's passed and my first doubting thoughts in response are "Why are you here with me. I'm not who matters now, your family is who needs you close more than me." In my mind I could see her smirk and picture her saying, "you know you love me" and sensing she loved me too.
I can feel the abundant life she has ascended to. A life with time enough to check on me and others without abandoning her family. This was something she seemed to have been practicing in life and now perfected in death. I feel called to that abundant life, invited by Sabrina to continue this great adventure. Called to give the gift of my presence, the authentic, amazing and annoying me to those around me. When I can accept my own humanity, as Sabrina did, I can cherish the humanity of others. I want it to be said of me, as it was said of her, "She was a woman of unshaken faith. She loved deeply. She lived joyfully." So, light my hair on fire, I'm putting my tail to the wind. It's time for a great adventure.
