It was 4 years ago on March 28, 2018 that a high school friend of mine, Kylie Deane Perrin Musfeldt, passed away unexpectedly. While I can't say I was close friends with her there is one specific incident that led me to consider her a friend. It was our senior year year of high school in 2007 and we were hosting the Nevada Cubs for a football game on Friday, September 7th. I was on the team and had been named a captain for that game.
Now, I had an intense fear of public speaking and as a captain I had to stand out on the gym floor with the other captains during a pep rally in front of the entire school. We each had to take turns riling up the crowd for the game and when the mic got to me I froze. After an awkward eternity someone in the crowd began chanting my name in encouragement. As you can probably guess, it was Kylie. While my glossophobia won out I did come to appreciate it, even if it took ten years to do so.
When news of her death came in 2018 it spurred a change in me. Whereas before I had been a largely directionless NEET, the outpouring of love for Kylie that I witnessed had inspired me to clean up my act. It's still a struggle some days but I'm doing my best.
So thank you for the motivation, Kylie. You are missed by many.
