Dear Andie (Dear Abbie or agony aunt to my UK friends)

This must have been what her friends thought of her. Hours (often late into the night) she spent on the phone dispensing support and wisdom to her friends (who were many).

God teenagers are so needy and Andie had what they needed. No sooner would she put the phone down after either her father or I threatened removal of priviledges, would it ring again. After midnight, schoolnights, it mattered not, there seemd to be an endless queue of callers.

Perhaps we should have had call waiting? Better to have installed a 900 number and make some money on the deal.

Well Andie's generosity and empathy was part of what made her so remarkable and caused people to seek her out. Guess this is why near 200 people converged in Hopewell Virginia from such distances to say goodbye to her. And why so many came up to say words over her. These are quite paraphrased as I don;t rememberthem perfectly. I cannot bare to look at the DVD at the moment. But you will get the gist of who Andie was, by what follows.

From SCA friend Emma
Andie was a bucket filler. She encouraged me to sing again after someone had told me I shouldn't. That person had tipped over my bucket and Adnie filled it again. My daughter will know her. I will teach her how to fill peoples buckets, because of Andie.

From SCA friend Fritz
I passed Andie on the way out into the screened back porch (smoking room). Andie was on her way back into the house now empty of all but my wife (who is allergic to cigarette smoke). I asked Andie where she was going. "You don't just leave people alone" was her answer. She spent most of the rest of the party talking with and getting to know my wife (a very shy person).

"You don't just leave people alone" prompted a number of other people to remark on this quality in Andie.

Best friend in high school - Lyara
When I transferred to Fluvanna High School (small rurual) from Albermarle (big school on Charlottesville) I was angry and knew I was not going to get along with the country kids. First day of school Andie comes boldy up to me while I sulking in corner of cafeteria and asks "What's your problem?" I replied with a surly "Nothing, What's your's?" Andie came straight back with "Not much if you don't count being in school with a bunch of normals. I guess I am a pretty happy freak." The thing is my hair was green at the time and I was dressed pretty much goth. And Andie had neon clothes pegs in her hair. I realised then that the country school wasn't all that bad. Found out that Andie only lived about 1/4 mile up the road from me. We became best friends after that.   

Several university friends made comments about how Andie convinced them to join APO (service fraternity at Longwood). They had never been joiners, but Andie was so much fun to be around they joined just to be near her. They still keep in contact with me on Live Journal.

Kimmie - friend from university later to marry Andie's Bard (Byrom) in the SCA. Yes she introduced them. They now have a baby daughter.

Told of Andie's very distinctive laugh. And how they were travellying back from an event. Andie in the back seat. It was night, cool out and they had been singing in the car so the windows were steamed up. They got to talking, telling stick jock stories (SCA fighting) and talking of other things. Byrom was driving, Kimmie on the passenger side, starting putting tally marks on the steamy windows. When Andie asked what they were doing. They had made a game of counting who could make Andie snort more often than the other.

Rescuing cows. Late one night when she and Kimmie had just met, they driving back to Farm Vegas (maybe Andie's name for Farmiville where Longwood uni is because of the lights at night in rural wasteland) they encounter cows escaped from some pasture wandering on the road. So Andie decided they had to notify the owner. But who?   Which field, what drive? So they opted for the first drive, drove as near the house as possible. Would have gotten out and knocked on door but for the guard dogs barking angrily all around. So she leaned on the horn and shouted out of partly rolled down window. "Your cows are loose." Then to Kimmie,   "nKay, I did the right thing, now let's go." Evidently this made a big impression on Kimmie.

Enough for now.