The first time that I got to meet Paige, was at her mission homecoming. I had just moved to Bozeman and into the Institute ward that semester. I hadn't met a lot of people yet, as I seemed to find myself driving back to my parent's house in Great Falls every weekend. But, that weekend I stayed for some reason. I remember thinking that no girl coming home from her mission should be so fun and spirited. I figured that they should all be quiet and calm. But, this girl who was up at the microphone was dressed with a lot of fashion sense and was so vibrant and real. I remember feeling excitement when she went out of her way to introduce herself to me. I couldn't believe that she would be as excited to be my friend as she was.
I still laugh and shiver when I think about one of her 'brilliant' ideas. It was February and she thought it would be a really fun idea to get our swimsuits on and go jump into Bozeman Beach, at midnight! So, she picked me up at 11:30 and we drove over there, just the two of us, laughing and joking about how crazy we were. We broke the ice at the edge of the lake, then counted to three and dove as fast as we could into the frigid water. It didn't take long for us to come racing back out of the water. The photos we took of ourselves aren't very good, but the memory is still so clear! Only Paige could have gotten me to do that sort of a thing!
Paige was one of the friends who made it to my reception in Great Falls. She had taken great care to ask me what I wanted for a wedding gift. I loved the pizza she made with her Italian mission knowledge and wanted recipes. I cherish the Italian recipe book that she gave to me. I also cherish the picture I have of us on my parent's front lawn. As always, she was beautiful and always made me feel beautiful, too. It still means so much to me that she made the trip up to help Mitch and me celebrate!
At her own wedding, she was amazing, too. With so many people around to pay attention to, she still made me feel her love and gave her undivided attention to everyone. I don't know how she did that, but you never doubted that she was excited to have you near her and that she loved you, even if there were hundreds of people around.
New Year's Eve in 2001, we got all dressed up in fancy evening wear and went for dinner and dancing at the Gallatin Gateway Inn. I remember feeling super awkward in my fancy dress and red lips. Paige, however, rocked it! And, in true Paige fashion, made the evening a fun and vibrant time. I think the man she brought was Steve Churchill.
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One time, for some reason I can't recall, we were at my house changing or trading clothes. I had commented on a nice fleece sweater that Paige had. What Paige said next is something I think of every time that I shop. She said that she always is willing to pay for quality items over buying cheaply made clothes at a deep discount. I still have a few of the clothes that we traded that day and have learned that she was right because they are still in good shape, where the cheaper clothes that I had are all gone, they didn't hold up nearly as long.
Unfortunately, we moved away and I didn't get to see Paige very often after that. But, one Christmas, I got a card with James' and Paige's picture in Italy. I didn't know that she'd been battling cancer and it was such a shock to me to realize that someone with so much personality and vitality could get sick. I called her and we had such a long, wonderful conversation over the phone: me in Missouri and she in Washington. I am so grateful that we got to reconnect one more time. We talked about her desire for kids. I often think about one of the comments she'd made to me. During college, I became a fanatic for the horse barn, and I spent a lot of time there working with multiple horses. I ended up breaking and training two of them. At the time of our conversation, about 6 years after I'd left MSU, I had two daughters. Paige asked me if parenting was like training horses. She thought that maybe the commitment and perseverance and consistency it takes to train a horse might be similar to what it takes to train a young child. Although I thought that was true, I'm sure that she discovered, as I have, that parenting takes quite a bit more than what training a horse requires. I am certain, for instance, that Paige's form of parenting had a lot more love, patience, laughter and empathy than any horse training would consist of.
I miss Paige and enjoy reading everyone's comments on here about her. She was a light to the world. I hope to learn from her example and not hide the light Christ gave me under a bush, but to shine brighter and happier than anyone around me! Love ya, Paige! --- Kate Neal McKamey ---
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