Remembering old friends

Alison J. Hoffman, born November 5, 1978-died July 9, 2001. She was my sister's best friend when they were both young. I remember a bit of Alison, but not as much as my sister. I remember she started a snow ball with my sister on the top of the hill in the development and it ended up being a 4 foot snow ball in the middle of a front yard. We had snow in the yard until May.

She is buried in Cedar Cemetery in Allentown, PA. She died in a horrible and freak sky diving accident. She didn't pack her own parachute once in the 75 or so times that she sky dived and it failed to open. When she was found in Dayton township, outside of Chicago, she still had the cord in her hand. Her helmet worked fine and was telling her how far she had before she hit the ground.

She was attending Johnson and Wales University in Miami, Fl. She was going to graduate that December. She had a boyfriend, but I'm not sure if they were going to marry or not.

My mom still talks to Alison's mom. Her mom, Kathy, seems to be doing good. She visits Alison's grave a lot. There is a Gazebo there looking over Alison's grave and Kathy sits in it when she visits. When I went back with my sister, we left little stuffed animals because she used to like them and I cleaned up her tombstone of the old grass from it being mowed.

Like I said, I don't remember much about Alison. I wish I did. She was really young when she moved out of the neighborhood and moved near Cedar Beach in Allentown, PA. However, every time my sister and her would meet, they would talk like nothing every separated them. And even though Alison is dead, I really do believe that Alison is watching over the people she loved.