Editor’s Note: Sara Kathleen Schacht’s sisters, Hanna and Rachael, are also our guest bloggers today. Both share their feelings of sadness and hope as they cope with the loss of their sister. Hanna’s tribute in poetry; Rachael’s in prose. (You can click through to read a guest blog post from their mother, Erin Anderegg.)

From Hanna
I don’t know what to tell you about my life.
I can’t tell you I’ve always lived it right.
I won’t lie to you and tell you that it’s been nothing but fun years,
There’s been countless times where I’ve been overwhelmed with tears.

I miss the way you comforted me in the middle of the night,
The way you always whispered into my ear telling me that “everything will be alright.”
Nothing feels safe without you right beside me as I continue on in this world.
I’m missing out on the older sister I had when I was a little girl.

Sara and Jeff

I dreamed the other night that I was watching your children in your home.
I spent countless hours with them and I can remember watching them grow.
But I can only see you as you were before,

The beauty that you behold will age no more.
Forever taken from me, forever a memory,
This isn’t the way it should be for me.

All I can do now is talk to your headstone and hope for guidance.
I pray that one day we can reunite in our alliance.
I pray that one day you can forgive me,
And I hope that in the end, all the answers are clear to see.

Happy Birthday Sara Kathleen – A sister to always remember!
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From Rachael
This is the first time I’ve written of Sara, ever. Losing her was the worst thing that I’ve ever gone through.

I am not by any means a religious person, but when the news came that the outlook was not good, the only place that called to me was a church. I could not understand why or how the unthinkable could be happening, and I needed to sort it out. Sure it was not the first time I had heard of a young adult’s life being taken by this disease,

At the prom

but I never thought it would happen to our family. Certainly not to Sara.

The pastor told me that God has a plan for us all, and I’ll never forget that. While I am still not a religious person, I have adopted that mentality as well, because there was a plan.

When the death of a child strikes a family, it can threaten to tear that family apart. Grief, remorse, and even guilt can take such a powerful hold on a family that no one moves past it.

But on rare occasions, it brings a family closer. It empowers some to move forward a little more every day with the hope that maybe something can be done so another family doesn’t have suffer such a tremendous loss. That’s what I think of at least, so that maybe when March 2, Sara’s Birthday, comes each year the ache will be a little less.

Because without the birth of my sister, I wonder if another family would have been able to take such a terrible thing and turn it into hope and possibility. This thought crosses my mind every time I pick my daughter up from school and see the AED hanging on the wall, ready to be used if someone’s child, brother, or sister is in need of one.

If it had not been for the strength of my family, and their determination to not let Sara’s death be in vain, we may not know who else is unnecessarily at risk in our community.

The effect that Sara has had on me has been life changing. It has let me know that life is way too short. Too short to dwell on the bad days at work, the argument with my husband, or any other otherwise insignificant thing that happens throughout the course of a day. I always take an opportunity to hug my daughter a little closer each night and let those I love know it.

Every day is a gift, and Sara knew every day was just that.

I miss my sister terribly and often wonder what she’d be doing today. I know she sees us each time we make snow angels, or bring her flowers, or even just stop by to brush the grass clippings off her grave during one of our evening walks in the summertime. But I know that there is always an angel watching over our family and someday, a long time from now, we will all be together again.

HAPPY 26th SARA!!! We love you!
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Click through to read a guest blog post from their mother, Erin Anderegg.)

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• Happy Birthday, Angel, miss you more every day - MOM - March 2nd, 2010

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