Rainbow Girl

Reflecting on my late friends life

It’s been over a week from the time of me writing this article since my dear friend Karly has passed away. Her 24 years on Earth would prove to almost anyone that if you have a talent to create,that it should never be taken for granted. My reflective piece of Karly will probably be one of my most treasured blogs on this platform because of what she meant in my life and to her other love ones. I only gotten to truly know her through a friend who happen to be her music voice teacher. I feel blessed to of had her in my life and learned so much from her. You know,for those who knew who Karly was, she had a knack for singing and her song writing abilities astounded everyone who had a chance to see her process to lyrics be turned into melodic and soulful ballads.

I remember it as if it was yesterday when I heard one of her singles “lime Green Jello” and was blown away by the rock based tune she wrote with her music teacher so many years ago in the 2010’s. No doubt,she was a huge fan of GreenDay and was inspired by their lead singer of the band. But it was her multi -talented genre bending ability that made her a one of a kind musical singer. In addition, there was just so much more to her as a person than the music and graceful voice she lended to the world, but what she also meant to me and other love ones during her short life. That’s what I’d like to have the opportunity of sharing with everyone today. One song that stood out was her song “Rainbow” which was about persevering through the tough times in life but realizing that those dark moments create the rainbow after the storm.

For me, Karly represented that rainbow in life. Even when times were not favorable, through her life, I learned that painful moments were necessary for us to grow and that it also came with a rainbow at the end of it all.

When I first met her:

It was around late 2011, at the time, and I seen Karly at my ex girlfriend’s house lounging around.

You see, Karly was just a music student at one of my buddie’s music studio where we actually started talking and became friends in that way. Of course, she was dating my now ex girlfriend’s brother at the time as well, but we’d always chat or hangout throughout the years, even after my ex and I were history.

I remember visiting her and another friend at a music studio shop near her house and watch her perform ballads and practice serpranos and voice lessons. We all thought she’d reach heights to become a mega pop star someday and we were all there to support her dreams to become that type of person. It was an exciting time for not only her but for her music teacher and myself too. To be apart of something as massive and instrumental: Building a popstar, was a sight you’d had to experience to know how special it was. Afterall, American Idol did call my friends music studio to find fresh recruits for a taping of the show locally one year.

There was one time where we all went to the Erie beach for a photo shoot and I took an incredible picture of her sitting peacefully on the sand near the lake. Those moments also live on because those were super special. I was on assignment to help with promotional material for her EP (which came out about 1 year later) that sounded amazing.

It was more than the music

During Karly’s short life,we’d hangout throughout the years and talk about different ideas and philosophy about life itself. When she had a personal problem or relationship issues, she’d vent to me about it. To be fair, later in her young adult life, i‘d also vent about things going wrong in my own relationships to her on messaging apps. She was silly and at times, had her annoying moments, but what friend doesn’t, yet those were long forgiving as she had her first and only son in 2017. After the birth of her son, she became much more mature and so did her with becoming a much more wiser and helpful friend. She warned me about situations both romantically and socially that wouldn’t end well for me, and has saved me from folks who would of never had my best interest. Karly would also cheer me on when I went back into the dating world last year and wished me nothing but the best with any of my new situations.

She encouraged me to reach for the stars when others didn’t

When other people were unsure about my ambitious dreams and aspirations, Karly was supportive and rooted for them to work out for me. She even decided to become a Vocal Media blogger (check out her profile here) where she wrote over 20 articles and opinion pieces throughout the last year of her life.

She and I enjoyed reading each other articles and would often share ideas On writing material. By reading some of her work, you’ll start to realize who she was and what the last two years of her life meant in her maturing and growth as a human. She loved writing fiction stories and sharing her life through her own special perspective and I’d like other Vocal contributors to enjoy some of her work so that her effort doesn’t go to waste in vein.

Her Struggles and hard times

She touched my life in ways that helped me be the person I am now. Of course, she had her own issues too. Like any human, she suffered from depression. She would seek therapy and other services to help her cope with some of those issues and even wrote a few introspective pieces here on Vocal to help other people going through similar situations. I’m not going to lie to any of you reading this, I had suicidal thoughts in the past and other mental health struggles over the years. However, talking with Karly about some of my struggles helped me realize that I wasn’t alone. The comforting silver lining was how Karly made you feel inclusive when everyone else made you feel like a no body and that’s a side of her I’ll forever be grateful for because she was like a bridge to a healthy well being in others. Even when she was battling her own issues, she wanted to be there to make your day better in any type of way she could.

When we both were having bad days, we’d talk about Futurama and other cartoons we both enjoyed. That’s a trait i wish most of my other friends had, yet you could always count on Karly when you wanted to brag about your obsession of an old Simpson episode or Rag about how horrible Bob’s Burgers were(She actually enjoyed that show) or the various moments from Rick And Morty. I’ll miss that part about Karly.

When the dad to Karly’s son passed away, I and other friends were there to comfort her. She would always text me a song that reminded her of her deceased Ex boyfriend and how she missed him dearly. Even though it was hard for her during that time, she found creative avenues that channeled her music writing ability and wrote songs about her late lover and what he meant to her. Now that Karly isn’t here with us, I am reminded of her whenever I hear a GreenDay song or watch a Tim Burton movie. I truly know what she was going through and it’s never an easy thing either.

What she meant to me

I felt it was only right to allow her legacy to move forward by writing about her and what she meant in my life. For myself, Karly represented something rare and exciting because she at the age of 15, was able to perfect her talents and link them to her dreams of becoming an artist. She reached top 40 charts at the ripe age of 15 and made a few singles locally that played on some internet radio stations . Of course in her last years leading up to her untimely death, she revealed to me how she was okay with just writing music from behind the scenes (by then she was in her early 20’s, married and raising her 3 year old son) and how her heart was still in music. She demonstrated to me how when you have a dream that’s way too big ,that you will have spectators , critics but also close friends and family who will always support you on your journey.

She also represented someone who lived a full life and utilized her talents during such a short time and that tomorrow is never promised. We should stop placing things into the back burner and just do it, take risk and ignore what other people might have to say about it. We were both open minded and unlike people in our local area, had ideas and thoughts that were radically different than from everyone else at the time. I currently live in a city where people are afraid of change and don’t really want it.

All of the birthday parties were special memories I’ll have within me for years to come. All of the ideas we shared on different things in life were also special because believe it or not, me and my friend both were artistic souls. We were from different worlds but shared a common special core.It felt like yesterday when we would both talk about our Replika A.I companions. How special they were to us and customizing them on the app. I’ll also never forget those karaoke events we had at Karly’s house as we would sing ballads and share the mic and laugh or cheer each other on. Those will be memories that‘ll live on forever. I loved hearing her music ballads and blues infused music she worked on with her music teacher who happens to also be a friend of mines too.

Those moments of her creating music were special because when she was done and everything was mixed and mastered, her music would turn out magic. Her talents expanded to writing music for other up and coming talent in my local area. That’s the thing about her: She was the most ambitious human being I had a chance to meet in the entire city, where most were focused on selling “work” or working blue collar jobs that didn’t take them anywhere.

The Rainbow From Our Tears

Unfortunately on April 22nd of 2022,Karly sadly passed away after complications from an epileptic seizure. During her last few months leading to her untimely death, she would suffer seizures in her sleep, leaving her exhausted and often out of it. This started to concern me as I knew it was not only serious, but could very well be deadly too. During the last couple of months before she died, Karly and her mother became apart of various organizations designed to avocate treatements and spread epilepsy awareness on Facebook.

I found it comforting how she wisely moved back in with her mom who watched out for her when the seizures occurred. I would also check up on her as well when we’d text each other about our days as well to cheer her up after the exhausting episode. Part of the magic of our friendship was texting memes and weird Reddit post that would make us laugh. Now that she’s no longer with us, anytime I find something funny, I immediately would think about her yet realize she’s gone. Sharing the memes and funny things with my other friends isn’t exactly the same either as most of them have a different sense of humor. Even now, I’ll find something funny, push share but quickly remember how Karly won’t be able to read that text message. That’s the part of all of this that saddens me.

At the end of her life

As I saw her nested in a casket, I frowned at not being able to see her again and that this chapter in my life was coming to a close. I started to reflect on everything we went through and happy moments we shared. Karly was able to achieve so much in her 24 years on Earth that I haven’t even been able to reach just yet: She had a song that made it to top 40, had several romantic relationships and got married, had a kid,had beautiful family who cared for her and so much more.So when I stood there over her casket to say my last goodbye, I whispered to her as she laid there peacefully in her casket “ See you on the other side of the rainbow, I’m going to really miss you” then walked to the other room at the funeral home.

I then looked at a mural of different pictures of Karly during her life here on Earth with every single moment, including that picture I taken of her during a photo shoot several years ago. I smiled because I knew she fully lived her life and every moment celeberated her when her sun was shining brightly in the sky. But as I saw Karly’s sunset come to an end, it made me appreciate what she offered while she was still here. As the darkness fall after her sunset, and love ones who cried and wept at the picture mural,I knew that as long as we kept these memories of Karly’s life in our heart, parts of her sun would always shine, and that’s enough for me. Because in the words of Donda West during one of her famous speeches “Even if you’re not ready for the day, it can’t always be night” and that quote echos in my head as I’m assured that Karly light will be forever shining in a brand new way in a brand new heavenly place.