I Remember / Semajh Daniels (Honorary Godbrother ) I remember us fighting in Kindergarten and my zipper catching your lip. You bled, Dr. Clark called me a woman abuser and I swore I would hate you forever, I think we were like 6 or 7
I remember everybody in 6th grade picked an acquaintance, and you laughed at me on the M16 bus saying nobody would get with a brother who still rocked a high top fade
I remember being 15 and the biggest male geek at my JHS, you used to tell me which ways not to walk 'cuz you knew your little thuggish suitors were plotting to jump me on the way to Deanwood
I remember HS, and the changes we made into adulthood. From drama in the cafeteria over silly stuff, to Mulcahey making you cry on a day were you shoulda felt like a queen
I remember Anacostia Park in 2000, and all them lil kids you had with you. The dudes with me later said that you were fine, too fine for all them kids to be yours.
I remember fate on a random Metro car, and a ride home to 53rd, just you, me and lil Z. You met my wife for the first time and lil Z smiled at everybody.
I remember my solitude when I heard you fall. The world went dark. You were the oldest friend I had on this planet. We knew each other before we could form proper sentences, and looking back at this memorium of all the names and all the people you touched just makes me reminisce- cuz while these names are familiar and bring back memories- you're present in everyone. You were my first crush, my oldest friend, my first platonic female friend who kept secrets almost better than I did.........
I remember feeling like a coward in the aftermath that followed. For all the times I didnt stick up for you, that I put my head down to anonymously blend in with schmucks who didnt matter to leaving your funeral 5 minutes into it cuz it was just to much for me. I was ashamed to face another mother cuz for some reason I just felt like something should be done. The police dont care about us, we knew that Muff, and I just wanted to handle stuff in ways that I knew would only bring more pain....I'm blessed in the fact that a mere 3 days before the Universe claimed your spark, we embraced one last time. I told you your shirt was dirty and you said I would know, since my people invented dirty. You were always more clever than me, more traveled. Your life to me always seemed so set, everyone that knew you saw success from day one and I wish I could talk to you damn near on a daily basis. Our last words were of love, and nobody knows our situation better than us, so I guess in your passing I selfishly didnt understand what I felt was being pushed to the background. When I got to your service I was like, who are all these people? Anybody that knew you knew you would say you knew enough folk to populate a country, but sis, you have no idea. It was overwhelming, so I guess while the friends and families said their goodbyes I burned alive on the inside thinking only of my own pain, and selfishly missing you. I love you, sis, but you already knew that. I just wanted everybody else to know too. I miss you and that smile, and that zany laugh, and that passion for life....it aint no fun down here without you, boo. I miss you....
What A Friend! / Naimah Campbell
Kendra. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about you. There are just so many things in this unpredictable world that cause me to wish and pray that you were still here. I really value the friendship that I created with you, and appreciate the time that we spent together. You are definately a rarity; there's NO ONE like you. I sometimes wish I could clone your personality, traits, and spirit, and place those qualities into some of the people who are currently in my life. I've never met anyone as accepting, free-spirited, funny, and STRONG as you. You always found a way to find something humorous in a situation or event, no matter how terrible it actually was. Whenever I had a dilemma you helped me to see the bigger picture. Whenever I was upset, you made me laugh at the situation. Whenever I had a bad day you made me realize that someone else had an even worse day. I truly miss having a friend that's there 24-7, no matter the day, the time, or the situation. If I had one wish that would be granted by God, I would wish to have you back here on Earth. I miss you, and love you always!
April/ Dena
Well this is a first for me, I could never bring myself to write a tribute without shedding tears. As April rolls near, I sit back and had a moment to rekindle a few things. One being how you got us all on the April Fool's Joke...I think everyone fell for it but Simone. I was really angry at you for that joke because it was like you had deprived us all from an event we would have wanted to attend. For those of you who are not understanding this...Muff sent out an email on April Fool's Day that her & Walt went to Atlantic City over the weekend and she married him. She even went to the extreme to make her email appear to say Kendra Watson...lol Now here comes another birthday without her, this has been rough for us all & only God has continued to comfort us thru this. We all loved her in different ways but mainly for her smile, laugh, her way of talking, her love for the kids & her individually love for us. As I sit and reminisce on our days, nothing but laughter comes out. I have taken the bad & made it better, the better has become the best. K. Smith, you mean a lot to me, they say people walk in & out of your life but a true one stays in your heart forever. Thank you for always being you, thanks for always letting me know my faults & potentials. Thank you for telling me "cousin you don't need that, you only want it because it's available" but deep inside I knew she was right but when you want something you want it. Sometimes I wondered who was the older one, I guess it was me but she was always wiser. Thanks Muffy for being a part of my life & most of all Thank you for being Kendra Mercedes Smith. I love you always & forever.
Be Strong Family! / Teresa Jackson (Kimberly's Cousin ) As I send words of encouragement, I pray that you will continue to be strong. However, I know that you have been strong, because I see the great works that you have begun. I think it is commendable the way you have started this victim's association to help families bring closure to their losses. I also pray that you too will someday be able to bring closer to your loss.
Kendra was a lovely young lady. I only met her once during a function at my cousin Kim's house, but I believe in my heart that she was a sweet child of God.
May God continue to bless your family and one day soon bring you perfect peace. Not that you'll ever forget Kendra, but that you may be at peace knowing her murdered has been apprehended. I also ask that God bless the victims of the other families that you are desiring to help.
Be strong family!
You were a Child, then a Teen, and a Woman / Nneka Pray (Family-Friend) Kendra, I first met you when you were in Elementary school, such a bubbly, bright, and beautiful child with such love in your heart for life, a silly sense of humor that I could not help but love you. While I was pregnant with Diamond, you were a joy to be around to keep laughter in my heart with all that I was going through.
Once Diamond came, you always embraced her as your own, always wanted to hold her, and take her with you. You were the girl all the little ones ran to to walk them to the store. The neighborhood loved you so. I loved you.
The warm summer evenings we sat on the front of 401, talking about boys, eating ice cream, laughing, joking and commenting on the state of the world. You asked for my advice and were one of the ones who actually used what I told you in your life. You were such a vibrant star. All the things that I wanted to do in my life and hadn't done, I wished for you to do and you were on your way!
It was a pleasure to watch you grow up into a brilliant young lady with a mission, going to college, coming home with such high hopes and aspirations for your future. You worked every summer, all with your dreams in front of you, fueling your life forward.
I missed you growing into a young woman, as I was not in the neighborhood anymore, but I always thought of you. When I heard about your life being taken (some months later), I cried as though it had just happened. Being here on this site, reading from others all of how I have felt about you has made me break down again. I can only gain strength and happiness in your demise because I know you have not died in vain. Your mother has taken your death on a path to save others like you and if one person puts a gun down, makes a different decision and chooses to talk instead of shoot, your life is the reason that would be possible and would make every day of your short life a testimony.
You will always be in my heart, the you as a child, the you as a teen and the you as a woman.
Thank you Muffy!
Nneka, Diamond and Jewel
Memories/ Colette James (Friend) Hey Muff,
It's funny how time flies and how things changes and how quickly we take our blessings for granted.
It's funny how we let ourselves get worked up over trivial matters and things of little or no importance.
It's funny how we quickly forget to reach out to a friend and to thank God for our blessings and simply for Being.
I still have your number in my phone and I often scroll past it knowing its there but just wanting to make sure. I still have the last two voicemails you left me and I make sure I save it ever 21 days (as per the operators prompts....lol). I still talk to our friends and people about you and I still, we still can't believe you're gone.
I can't explain it but you had the soul of someone far wiser than your age. I always tell people its like you've been here before and you came back and knew exactly what it is you were to accomplish. Who it was you were to touch and what message, fight, and cause was to be fought in your name.
We had our moments, but from the moment I met you at Temple University Ambler's freshman orientation, I felt that I had known you forever. LOL....I remember we filledout our paperwork and chose to be roomates and you began to call me that summer telling me about your life, happenings, what you already got from the room almost like we had been talking for years. I remember when you never wanted to open the blinds even on bright summer days and we kept going back and forth until you called your mom and she told you that you had to share......I remember our secret missions and mission impossibles....like when we stole Tam and Tia's bed and ran across the lounge and down our wing with it. I remember all those days at Ambler and all the days that followed. But most of all I remember you and your vivid presence and there is no way that anyone who ever met you can ever forget you.
I miss you sooooooooooo much Muff, my little ardvark...remember when we watched Arthur and I showed you who you looked like....on the floor laughing and when you used to make me watch the Five Heartbeats over and over again.
The funniest ever is when you signed up for Say What Karaoke and Yolanda and I were in the room teaching you dance moves for Michael Jackson's I'm Bad. I think that was the best performance ever! You almost flashed the crowd you were dancing so hard and almost came out your silver tube top. I wonder if someone ever video taped that.
Anyways, Muff haven't written you in a while and I want you to know I miss you...I am always thinking of you and I love you.
~ Colette
thinking of you / Imani Abney (little cousin )
Hey Kendra just thinking of you. This is the second christmas without you and its hard to deal with fact that your acutally gone. Sometimes i forget your gone but when i pass by and see pictures of u it all comes back to me that your not here physically. I even looked in my phone and called your number, then it hit me your gone. So even though your gone you left something down here for us and that's Zae. I'm sad that your gone but i'm glad you were a live and you was my cousin. LOVE U MISS U ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT U.
Kendra Lives in all of us / Kevin Watson (Almost brother in law ) I am writing to relay some of my feelings for the premature loss of such a beautifully intelligent young woman. Her drive for education and making life better for her and those around her are the reasons that it is so difficult to deal with such an untimely death. My brother Walter will forever be dedicated to her and will nurture the fruit of their relationship in Zaelyn. Kendra's life represents something that only a few young people can dream of, (HOPE). Jennifer , thank you for being the eternal disciple of goodwill and true friendship. May god bless the black community as it stumbles day after day in the drug infested quagmire that is presented to many black americans around this country. The struggle continues. I stand steadfast with you my sister. You do not walk alone.
Please Accept My Condolences in Your Grief / Benjamin Snyder (Temple Alumnus ) I encountered the story of Kendra on the Temple U. website, while I was looking for other information. I am so sorry for you. I lost my daughter Stacy when she was 18, and had just registered to attend Temple. I know how it feels every day-like a knot in the center of the gut. be strong!
For Kendra / Irena Hill (UK) Kayleigh's Nanny Just to let you know that people who don't know you are thinking about you. You have left a beautiful legacy in your gorgeous daughter. She will grow to know what a very special person her mummy was. http://kayleigh-erceg.memory-of.com
MY CHILD / SELMA FLYNN BOBBO.MEMORY-OF.COM (friend) "MY child
On the day God took you
I thought that I would die
I wondered where the time went?
I asked alot of whys??
With people all around me
I felt alone inside
From all their words of comfort,
I couldn't seem to hide, I thought I might be dreaming
That I'd wake and find you here,
I thought "This can't be happening."
As I wiped another tear.
On the day that you were laid to rest
My heart broke yet again,
I wondered if the pain would end,
But mostly, I wondered when??
It's hard to be without you,
At times the days seem long,
Sometimes I just sit crying,
When there's really nothing wrong.
I wish we'd had more time,
Before your life was done.
I hope your resting peacefully,
My precious child,
Long distance support!!!!!!!!( Nashville,TN ) / Earl Jordan (No relation ) To Mrs. Deborah Evans-Bailey:
This is Earl Jordan, from Nashville,Tennessee. I have a organization here in Nashville called Partners In The Struggle. Our organization speaks out against the murders and violence/gun-violence of our love ones here and nationally. I saw you on the Million More Movement telecast on CSPAN. You voice was very powerful and sincere. I told my 10 year old daughter, that I was going to contact you. She said," Yeah, Daddy, let's go visit her and do a candlelight vigil in her honor. As, I move and prayed about contacting you; a mother from Buffalo told me about Valencia Mohammed, who connected me with you; God is good.
Sister Deborah, in the passing of your daughter, I want you to know I'm here for you in Nashville. The murders and the gun-violence must stop. Kendra was very beautiful and I know it painful to have this to happen. But, as I tell my mothers' here in Nashville; now it's time to let everyone know what Kendra meant to all of us. It starts with you and you've done it best. Starting an organization in her honor; to get the word and out and keep her memory alive. I will be in Washington to honor your daugther; as well as Sister Valencia's sone who was murdered real soon. GOD is stil in control and you will be okay. When times seem to get hard; just call on his name and I promise you; GOD will see you through.
Your my sister in STRUGGLE, through Kendra!!!!!!!!!
Have a bless day and call me anytime.
1-LOVE,
Earl Jordan Founder, President and CEO of Partners In The Struggle Inc. 787 Lewis St. Nashville,TN 37210. 615.568.3461.
For Her family / Irena Hill (nanny to angel kayleigh-erceg.memor-y-of )
Right now I'm in a different place,
And though we seem apart,
I'm closer that I ever was...
I'm there inside your heart.
I'm with you when you greet each day
and while the sun shines bright
I'm there to share the sunsets, too...
I'm with you every night.
I'm with you when the times are good,
To share a laugh or two,
And if a tear should start to fall...
I'll still be there for you.
And when the day arrives
that we are no longer apart,
I'll smile and hold you close to me
forever in my heart.
What a senceless thing to happen, I am so sorry for your loss.
Sad Event / Travers Hull (nothing) It's always hard to to think about an innocent person getting killed. This story make me sad. Due to the ignorance of other people loose their lives and it's not far. To the family and friends please accept my condolences. May God bless you and keep you.
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