The family asked that we share some special memories of Kathy. Here are a few of mine. Love, Yvonne "Von" Goforth-Hanak

1. I was so glad I was able to make it to the service in Florida Tuesday. It was a nice tribute to a wonderful person. You guys asked at the service for folks to share some of their best memories. Here are a few of mine. <br />Kathy was two years older than me. I remember trying out for her and Kristi (the captain’s of the flag corp) before my sophomore year in high school. I was so shy and nervous. Both of them quickly took me under their wings and I was instantly a lot cooler because I hung out with the seniors. Kathy took me everywhere…I remember going to parties with her, spending a lot of time with her church youth group, movie nights at her house, hanging out at the Jewish Center where she worked….Kathy had so many friends and was like a social cruise director….she was always organizing the fun. I remember one night we were at her house watching scary movies. Someone had the bright idea to go to Chickamauga Battlefield to continue the scare fest. So 8 of us crammed into a car made for 5. We get there and the boys started climbing the outside of the tower. Kathy, the other girls and I were walking among some graves…I was terrified with the whole situation. I assumed the boys were going to fall off the tower and we would have to carry them to the car, that we were going to encounter “green eyes,” the ghost from the tower, that the devil worshipers that sacrificed dogs (that I had just learned about in our car ride over) were going to nab us and do rituals on us… and then we saw the blue lights flashing and I knew we were going to jail. This was going to be on our permanent record and we would never get into college. I’m relaying these fears a mile a minute. Kathy just kept laughed. She kept saying “It’s going to be fine…Don’t worry.” The police let us go, we weren’t sacrificed and nobody ended up in the hospital. She was right. We were fine. I had been so scared that I peed in my pants. She didn’t tell anyone. That’s a friend. <br />I remember going to Louisiana on a band trip. Kathy was the one leading the charge on the pranks…she taught me the fine art of putting plastic wrap on toilets and I believe it was Kathy that had the bright idea to hide crawfish in the boy’s room…it was a day or so for the payoff on that prank, but I do remember the boy’s room stinking pretty bad. <br />We spent my 18th birthday on the beach in Panama City. I don’t remember much about that trip other than Kathy leading other hotel guests in a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday. There were at least 50 people out on their balconies singing. Will never forget that. <br />I remember Kathy inviting me on a Gatlinburg trip with a bunch of her college friends. She had rented an amazing condo and we had the best time. Again, she included me in her circle and her friends were my friends.<br />When we were in college, Kathy asked me to be her maid of honor. I said yes and proceeded to be the worst maid of honor in history. I didn’t know until many years later that I should have organized a shower, should have helped with the planning, etc. I went to school two hours away, was broke as most college students are and wasn’t really involved that much in helping plan her special day. She never said anything about it but it has bothered me often over the years. I wish I had done more during that time. I wish I could have better shown her how special she was to me. She deserved better. <br />Kathy, I just can’t believe you are gone. Even though I hadn’t seen you in years, you were and always will be a part of my heart. Rest in the arms of God, my friend. You deserved better. I love you.<br />