I first met Katie Tyson at a UU youth conference. She was bubbly, kind and wonderful. We worked together on the district youth steering committee and she maintained a great attitude through both long meetings (our meetings usually started at 8 pm and went until midnight or so) and long weekends - the cons themselves also involve little sleep - especially for committee members who stay up in shifts to make sure all is going well).
Sadly, Katie was killed in a car accident earlier this month. She had just attended General Assembly of Unitarian Universalists. As this article captures wonderfully, she had great plans for the future.
But Katie had already helped and supported and touched a lot of people. A memorial fund has been established to help develop and train other UU youth and young adult leaders.
In the words of the Libby Roderick song we often sing at cons:
How could anyone ever tell you
You were anything less than beautiful?
How could anyone ever tell you
You were less than whole?
How could anyone fail to notice
That your loving is a miracle?
How deeply you're connected to my soul?
