Anna, I was in awe of you. I loved the day you were born and every moment since. Your brilliant mind was unmatched. Your sense of adventure limitless. Your beauty from the inside out. Pure genius and beauty wrapped in an enormous heart.

I admired your friendship with your Mommy. You set the bar for a relationship that I only hoped Ella and I would experience as my baby matured. What YOU did for Laurie was life changing. You see, when we lost our Mommy, we lost a part of ourselves. There was not clear line of where our Mom ended and where we began. Your Mommy had a piece of her spirit missing…until YOU. This is not to say the Nick and Zen are not important. What I am referring to is different. When Laurie received the present of your spirit a deep loss within her was quieted. Perhaps girls need girls. You were someone beyond the physical, you were a soul to soul connection, an unspoken truth, and unconditional love to Laurie.

And while you have departed so abruptly from this physical reality, the enormity of your being is free. No longer squeezed into the vehicle of your body, the work you’ll accomplish will continue to impact all of us. No one who knew you will ever be the same because you were here, thank you.

Love, Aunt Jill

Jillian Phelan Via Facebook

21 years in this specific reality together but an eternity of bliss you have bestowed upon me – iteration after iteration, karmic cycle after karmic cycle, nothingness to somethingness and back to nothingness, only to have me wondering what the next version of your somethingness will be…your rapturous, inimitable, beatific essence towards life, inspired us all. I will keep this short because I will be speaking about you at greater length, very soon, as I plan to enlighten everyone who didn’t already know about your HUMANITY. Your sheer benevolence is unmatched. I’ve never met another human with such integrity and love for the entire species. You undoubtedly live on in some capacity because energy cannot be destroyed. You are in all of our consciousnesses as you are most likely experiencing all this from some other dimension or alternate plane. I’m posting this on your wall, Anna Banana, because I want your friends to see what I think is one eloquent, yet completely insufficient, way of measuring/describing our relationship.

Attached is a video we used to watch all the time. It’s about the Knowingness of Nothing…The experience of understanding that we are all spawn from NO THING – which can be interpreted as NOT ONE THING but we are all spawn from ONE THING, we are all the same thing happening at once, only in the here & now, but in many different versions. Right now, about 7 billion different versions! Through this Knowingness of Nothing, comes a great deal of joy AND the greatest manifestation of joy, laughter. This laughter comes from knowing that everything is going to be alright because you are always in the here & now and this EGO we have doesn’t really exist at all! It’s just the concept that thinks it’s in charge while the really essence is just BEING. You were a lightness I’ve never felt before. You are luminous Banana. You are my sister and will forever be my sister. I love you and will always love you, because I am you and you are me.

Love, your BROTHER.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfvgvDkdG2M

Nicholas Goldreich Via Facebook

You were both beautiful, spirited, and incredibly fun souls that I was privileged enough to know. Thank you for being great roommates, despite the struggles of school and sorority life and living together, you both met me with so much kindness. From sharing clothes to complaining about boys to being the only ones who wanted to do a Meet and Greet with Jesse McCartney. Rest In Peace, Anna and Amanda, gone too soon.

Micaela Martinez Via Facebook

I don’t know how to process this. While on a quick break at work, I found out Mandi had passed away in a car crash. I texted two of my other old roommates, and found out one of them, Anna, had also died in the same accident. Two of these brilliant and kind women are no longer here, and I can’t understand that. When I needed a place to live my senior year, these women welcomed me into their apartment with open arms and giant hearts. Through crafting and drinking and watching Disney movies or trashy TV to our wild (and not so wild) adventures around campus, these women became my friends. Even after I graduated, we’d text and have mini reunions. I met many incredible people and have crazy memories I never would have thanks to Mandi and Anna. We took care of each other in our apartment, plain and simple.

Mandi and Anna, thank you for everything. You are way too young to have your lives end so abruptly. Both of you had huge dreams, and were so close to achieving them. You would have graduated in just a few short months and gone on to achieve these goals, and many more. Your friends and family love and miss you so much, and we will never forget you or let the memories of you slip out of our hearts. Thank you both for making my world, and that of many others, a bit brighter while you were here. Rest in peace, Amanda and Anna

Madeline Haff Via Facebook

We are not always here for a long time, and the impact that we have on others is our greatest legacy. Anna, my little, you will be missed immensely. I will never forget how nervous I was to meet you, only to find out you were one of the kindest, down to earth, and funnest girls in our sorority. We will have our drink together someday, for now rest in paradise. We all love you and will be thinking of you often. 

Samantha Boccia Via Facebook

Our squad will never be the same without you. You were stolen from us way too soon. Rest in paradise, my dear Anna. Gone, but never forgotten.

Cary Grant Via Facebook