Shannon Kathleen Collins: October 30, 1973 – May 7, 2012
A Memorial for Shannon Kathleen Collins
The community of Santa Cruz is invited to a public ceremony to celebrate the life of Shannon Kathleen Collins. We will have speakers, music, and time to reflect on the many ways she has touched our lives. Please bring a blanket and/or portable chairs. The lawn provides open seating.
Date: June 9, 2012
Time: 2:00pm
Place: San Lorenzo Park, Duck Pond, 137 Dakota Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Remembering Shannon Kathleen Collins
Shannon understood that life’s simple pleasures were the root to all happiness and fulfillment. She taught me that a life of dreaming was worth living, and that each person could bring great value to the world by simply being themselves and doing what they loved. She was a true and loyal friend, a loving spirit, and she always knew how to make me laugh.
As I reflect on the last 14 years, I am thankful for the many late nights at the Poet & The Patriot or The Red Room (or one of our homes), for college study sessions that got out of hand, for coffee and cigarettes in her yard the morning after a particularly fun night, and for the many long walks we would take to talk and stay fit. There are moments I cherish as ours alone, and many I have already (regrettably) forgotten. We had 14 years, and I was sure we had at least that many more.
In recent years with busy travel, stress and responsibility on both our parts, Shannon and I hadn’t spent much time together. I missed her, but didn’t understand how to fix the miss. Every time I came back from travel I was burnt out – in need of some quiet time and so we started to drift apart. Over the last 2 months of her life, she had begun reaching out to me, and I to her. I could see that we would soon “fix the miss”. It was on the horizon, coming fast.
That ship has now sailed. And now, I know I will never see my friend again. I will miss Shannon forever. I will remember her and honor her in every way I can. I am here, her friend and protector, always.