I recently heard that the world has lost an inspirational soul… a girl I’ve known since 7th grade, who was vibrant, luminous, cheerful, uplifting and a genuine sweetheart.
Elizabeth E. Freeman and I had lost touch over time, but for two or three fun-filled years way back when, she lit up my life with excitement and laughter. Lizzie had a laugh that was absolutely contagious, a little-girl giggle that never got old. She could find humor in anything, even in our angsty teen years. Lizzie was a gymnast and a cheerleader, who pulled me in and groomed me to be a cheerleader with her. She was talented and exceled at everything she took on - a truly well-rounded girl. Perfect grades, great at sports, beautiful, a caring and trustworthy friend; Lizzie was a fantastic role model for anyone who met her.
We spent a lot of time at her house making up our own dances to cheesy ’80s music, gabbing about boys and pining to be real adults. When Lizzie got her drivers license she just LOVED to drive… anywhere. I lived up in the booney-sticks of Bear Valley, and Lizzie loved to come get me just because it allowed her to be in her car. We spent so many nights just riding around town, anywhere, listening to loud music and singing at the top of our lungs.
She loved Britney Spears when “Oops I Did it Again” was popular, and she never got over her Britney adoration. The last time I spoke with Liz (2 years ago), she gushed about how she spent New Year’s Eve at Pure in Las Vegas and she was “this close” to Britney! The excitement was palpable. :)
I drank my very first beer with Lizzie (sorry mom). We were too young, and we were at a small party, held at the house of some boy she had a crush on… I was 15, she was 16. We drank forties of something that tasted like death in a bottle, and we both hated it. A few months later we tried — oh yes we did — Alize (it tasted much better). Luckily, drinking didn’t define my high school years. Although Liz and I eventually drifted apart, I’m pretty sure it didn’t define hers either. She was always into sports and good grades and friends.
I smoked my very first joint with Lizzie (again, sorry mom). And I absolutely hated it, even though Lizzie told me I was supposed to feel “dopey.” I think I only tried it once more in high school, because the way it made Liz giggle made me think it couldn’t possibly be bad.
Coming home from the Alaska State Fair in 1996, Lizzie and I decided to stop at the Subway on HuffmanRd for some midnight chocolate chip cookies. She had a friend who worked there part time, and sometimes if we got there right at midnight he would give us all of the leftover cookies from the day for free! On this particular night, we walked into the Subway at 11:55pm. A man jumped up from behind the counter with a black face mask and a sawed off shotgun and shoved us into the back room - apparently we had interrupted a robbery. Lizzie and I were told to kneel and put our hand flat on the ground in front of us, while 2 masked men emptied the safe and cash registers. We made eye contact nervously and moved our hands closed together so we could link our pinky fingers together on the floor. The men left after just a few minutes, and no one was hurt. Calling our parents was almost scarier than what we had just been through! Lizzie wasn’t allowed to drive for a few weeks after that — and I remember thinking it was so unfair, since we weren’t out past curfew and we just wanted cookies and we didn’t do anything wrong! As I think about starting my own family, I now realize the absolute terror our parents must have felt when they recieved the call about their daughters being held up in an armed robbery.
After the fact, even that scary event was just something to gossip about. Lizzie and I got a little bit of fame out of it, and then went back to being cheerleading nerds who sang at the top of our lungs, looking for cute boys everywhere we went. I have more stories than I could possibly share, and I’ll always remember my time with Lizzie with fondness.
Liz and I shared a lot of wonderful times together, and she is in so many of my coming-of-age stories. I felt blessed to be her friend then and I feel blessed to have known her now that she is gone. I am sure that every person whose life she touched feels the same way, and I am so grateful to her parents, Linda & Skip Freeman, for raising such a wonderful soul.
Lizzie died on April 16, 2009 — from carbon monixide poisoning. Her obituary can be seen here. Please, PLEASE, take a quick moment to go check that your carbon monoxide detectors are working properly.
Goodbye, Lizzie. You will be dearly missed, and I hope to hear your infectious giggle again someday.
