March 5, 2015

From the desk of Ginger Bell, Director of Family and Alumni Relations:

Samantha Anderson, ’15, wrote me on Wednesday in regards to the email I sent referencing the evens of one year ago. Her words describe so well who we are and who we strive to be. I am compelled to share them with you.

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the week of March 4th, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot more, of course, as it’s drawn closer to the 1-year mark.

I just wanted to share with you (and the rest of BH) how grateful I am for Brook Hill and the wonderful family I have because of it.

You met me when I came and visited and have watched me grow up (literally) which is pretty cool. You’ve always made sure to come and watch at least one volleyball game every year. That’s been so appreciated and I want you to know that.

One of the things I remember about that week and keep going back to is the picture of everyone in the gym the morning after the crash. Do you know the one I’m talking about? When we called a prayer meeting in the gym, after we had all been at the hospital until midnight? The picture shows everyone holding hands and singing a worship song- and that morning has meant so much to me.

——I wrote this in a ‘Mr Travis’s AP English Journal Entry’ type of way one night and I was wanting to share it with you to show how much that morning meant to me—-

For 7 years I basically lived in the Herrington Gymnasium. I never actually called it that; most of us just called it ‘the gym’. I practiced there, stood in the student section, and competed there.

I don’t remember the score of my last basketball game in the gym. I don’t remember most of the pep rallies, and I don’t remember every practice.

But I remember the morning of March 5th, 2015. I remember walking into the gym with a heavy heart, and joining the rest of my senior class. I still remember exactly where I stood on the gym floor as we cried and hugged each other, the day after we lost Pasha and Mrs. Dana. On that Thursday morning we cried. We prayed. We worshiped the God who gives but who also takes away.

After 8 long years at Brook Hill, it was only 2 months before my graduation day that I realized that our school is truly a family. One hour in the gym redefined the word of ‘family’.

I’m grateful for our gym. For the day that many families came together as one family. I’m thankful for the lives of Pasha Zapolskyy and Dana Regester; not a day goes by that I don’t think about them. And I am ever so thankful for my Brook Hill Family.

——

Thanks for all you and everyone do at BH. Miss you all and I’ll forever be a Lady Guard.”
-Samantha Anderson