Spread Happy
The month of February has to be my least favorite time of year, next to the holidays, as my sister Reagan is no longer apart of this worldly life. After feeling quite overwhelmed at the thought of the second anniversary of her passing approaching, I turned to my daily devotional for support. Shortly after reading and checking myself in with God, I had the idea to share a photo and short memory that accompanies each image once a day this month to ease my pain and encourage positivity. My gears started turning about how I could encourage this happiness for others who were affected by Reagan's death as well, and came up with the idea to collect memories Reagan shared with her friends and loved ones. This post serves as a small collection of all the happy, little memories and some photos her friends shared with me. Thank you to everyone who reached out to make this possible.
"When I was younger my parents were going through a nasty custody battle. With that being said my mom wanted me to go to the Anthony Wayne school district and sent me there at the beginning of the school year. I was only there a week given the custody battle. That week, since I was the new girl, no one really talked to me or made me feel welcome except one little girl. Her name was Reagan Tokes. She was the only person to talk to me, be my friend, and eat lunch with me. After that week I was switched schools and lived with my dad. Growing up I always told people how Reagan was my first friend. The impact she had on me I will forever cherish her memory and wish we would have stayed in contact through out the years." -Taylor
"This was one of the first nights Reagan and I hung out and since she was one of those people everyone was drawn to, we clicked and it was easy to feel close to her quickly and I always loved that about her." -Emma
"I had a class with Reagan freshman year, and we did a group project together. Though I didn't know her really well, she loved to tell us about her roommates and drama and she was such a sweet person. I'm happy I had a chance to meet her." -Brianna
"I remember meeting her at the dance studio as a little girl and thinking she was the coolest person in the world." -Ella
"When Reagan let Meg and I stay at her place for the OSU game. " -Erin
"My favorite memory right now is blasting Juicy by Biggie and shouting the lyrics with Reagan all over the place. On the day we find out where we match for residency, we have a special ceremony at my school where we get to each pick a song to play while we walk up on stage and announce where we are going for residency and I'm going to play Juicy for her. We used to watch Biggie documentaries together." -Lindsey
"I'd say mine is her sneezing in the middle of language class sophomore year of high school. Her sneeze was so different the entire class exploded laughing." -Brad
"One of my less funny memories is when I was applying for medical school and about six months into the application process I hadn't really gotten in anywhere and I was really depressed about it. And on top of all that I lived alone and Ben was living in Dayton so I was lonely, and it was Thursday when we [Reagan] were texting about it and then she was like "I'll come visit you tomorrow and we can do whatever you want." So she literally dropped everything to visit me and it was probably the most lame night for her because we watched Parks and Rec and drank wine. We went out to a bar afterward but came home early and I just think that's a good story because it shows how much she cared-she dropped everything and was just there for me you know? That was actually the last time I saw her in December before she died. I've never had a friend do anything like that for me except for Reagan and I just think that's a good example of it because it happened all the time. It's something my sister has done for me, but this was another level of friendship, you know like a sister?" -Alex
"When we went fishing in Naples with your Dad! And she was sea sick most of the time and the only carbonated drink the captain had was a budlight lime so she drank that to feel better, then we let her catch the biggest fish at the end." -Jackie
"Reagan was yelling at the boys across the street and they started a drinking game where every time she blew the vuvuzela they chugged their beer." -Jackie
"This was Thanksgiving '16 and she spent all day Thanksgiving with my family before you guys made it to Columbus and we were my moms sous-chefs and drank mimosas and wine all day long" -Jackie
"This was at my graduation and she and Madison sat up with my family. She was telling my parents stories of us going out and typical stupid college girl stories and the old man sitting in front of them gave her a dirty look and then took his hearing aids out." -Jackie
"This was when I came home for Bucka and Mucka's 50th wedding anniversary." -Kris
"Christmas 2006- so happy that I got the Aunt seal of approval for buying your clothes from your favorite store- Justice!" -Kris
"I surprised Reagan and came to one of her first tennis matches at Anthony Wayne." -Kris
"Celebrating the gift of friendship Reagan gave my Rachel Jo! When she needed to gain confidence Reagan made her feel extra special. Fun times, a special bond!" -Joanie
"My favorite moment was from the church on the mission trip we went on. Reagan's debate on books took a quick turn as I explained that most books come out on dvd and there was no point in reading when I can watch them. She always thought that was humorous and still was a current joke." -Max
"This was the Michigan State game (that we lost) and we woke up at 4am to get a good spot and college game day and froze our butts off waiting 4 hours for it to start" -Jackie
"This was a random day in February '16 that was 60+ degrees and we accidentally matched (for the thousandth time) and walked all the way to Condado with Madison and her sister" -Jackie
"I remember one time I was at your house for your birthday party and Reagan peed on a chair cushion and your mom was so mad but it was so funny and she thought it was too because she didn't mean to! She was such an outgoing and goofy soul." -Maddie
"Reagan and I went to preschool together even before AW, and I have a specific memory of her being a goof ball when we were like 5." -Nicole
"On move in day freshman year, I was insanely nervous because I'm really shy and wasn't sure how well Reagan and I would get along. Turns out I didn't have to worry about that because the first thing she did when she saw me was run up and give me a huge hug. We didn't always get along but I was lucky to have her. I know I wasn't her best friend when we lived together, but she definitely was mine." -Morgan
