Kayleigh Brugger

when the paper got ahold of me and asked me to tell about who kayleigh was and what kind of person she was i responded with this email.. obviously they only used pieces of it.. and i knew that would be the case even before i wrote it and before it went to print.. but i felt like i needed to write this all out.. at least for myself. just wanted to share with you what i had actually written.


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sure, but with respect to my family i ask that you refrain from contacting her immediate family at this time... including the grandparents.

Kayleigh was the most charismatic and loving person i ever known... that sounds so cliché being people usually have a similar statement for someone that they knew that has passed on. But in the case of my little cousin, i would have said the same thing to whomever asked two weeks ago. I have lived alot of places and met alot of faces but i can tell you for certain that i have never come across someone that had such an ambience of attraction. Everyone and their mother wanted to be around her and everyone felt like she genuinely wanted to be around them. I loved kayleigh so much and i always joked that she was my favorite cousin. But as i consistantly made it known to my two sisters that it was the truth.. she was so compassionate and was my advice giver when i was having relationship issues whether it be in regards to friends, girlfriends, parents, etc. She just knew how to deal with people. Consistently people would tell me that she was so nice to everyone, it didn't matter where they were from, what they looked like, or even if they didnt speak her language. She could still get to them with her loving smile. Many people admired her for being so popular and still showing love to everyone she was around. It never mattered if they deserved it, or not... i truly believe that this was the love of Christ hat was shining through her. As many know, Kayleigh was a strong Christian and did lots of volunteering with Christian organizations whether it be in Brandon, Vancouver, or elsewhere. She was very involved in her church and church community from a young age. I never forget taking my little cousin out for coffee shortly after returning from my adventures living in Los Angeles and Mexico. We sat and talked for hours about our dreams and desires and what we wanted to do when we grew up. We talked about where we felt God wanted to take us in our lives, and it was very inspiring to me. She encouraged me to go for my goals just through sharing hers.

My Family has lost someone with more potential and ambition then i could even dream of. we lost someone who truly understood what it meant to walk in the love of Christ. And it is for this that i know that God didn't take our Kayleigh from us. He had given her such big dreams and had such big plans for her and she has been nothing less then stolen from us.

In closing, as i type on my tearstained keypad, i want to say thank you to the Lord as i know that Kayleigh is in the loving arms Jesus as we speak. And i want to ask her to give a big hug and kiss to my cousin Amber Brugger-Goudreau. I love you and miss you both so much!

Jordan Brugger