A Memory by Myrtle - October 2004
I remember the spring of 2003 When my husband, Jeff, Matt, Amy and I went down to Malibu to check out the Pepperdine campus. We had a nice day at the school learning more about it. Afterward we decided to look for a beach. It was already late in the day. We found an area that had beach access but was quite a ways to walk to get down to it. Matt and Amy did the walk while Jeff and I just looked at the view from where we were. It was almost dark by the time 'the kids' arrived back at the car. We were all sitting in the car deciding where to eat dinner when a policeman came over to the car to see why we were still there after dusk. He recommended Coogies restaurant. We, of course, took his suggestion.
Coogies was a great place to eat. I remember that Amy ordered two appetizers instead of dinner like the rest of us. She shared them with us and we let her taste our food. She did like to sample things just like Molly said at the memorial service. That was really a cute and unique part of her personality. I never saw her eat very much at any one time though.
It was fun having Amy with us that day and we all had a good time together.
When we went back to Malibu in the fall, Amy was our waitress at the same restaurant. She was a good waitress and seemed to enjoy being one. She seemed to enjoy working there, too. She was able to see different celebrities almost day.
If you are ever in Malibu, you should eat at Coogies. It does not have a view of the ocean, but the food is great.
A Memory by Aunt Dodie
My earliest memories of Amy are of a charmingly precocious little "fairy princess." Even when she was covered with dirt from digging in the backyard, or covered with blackberry stains from a trip to the berry patch, it seemed that her chubby little feet never quite touched the ground - that she had so much to see and do and explore that she couldn't be slowed down by the practical matters of life. As she grew up I described her as my little bohemian because she was always looking for a new adventure and she was so full of imagination and talent. Last spring I picked her up at the airport to bring her home to her grandparents for some intensive TLC - she was so broken and sad, but she began to recover and blossom under the care of "Grammy" and "Papa" and we had the priviledge of seeing Amy actually begin to appreciate herself and understand how much we loved her. She was excited about the future - her wings were starting to spread again and her fairy princess eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm. She did a lot of hard work when she was in the rehab program and I was so proud of her - I saw so much progress and I wrote the following poem to encourage her a few weeks before she completed her stay. Her name means beloved jewel and I wanted her to know how precious she was to me. This is the way I want to remember her.CherishedSparkling with artistic passion,Brilliantly talented with voice and words.Generous of heart,Tender in spirit.Destined to overcome the demonsWho try to drown her pain.Braver than she knows,Strengthened by the peace of Yahweh.Light as a fairy's whisper,Bold as a princess warrior.A butterfly emerging from the dark,Ready to soar on gossamer wings.This is Amy Crystal - Beloved Jewel.- Aunt Dodie, 8/4/2004
A Memory by Verdooya
I've been thinking for a while about what I could write here about Amy. It's been a long time since I'd seen her, her brother and my sister's wedding in fact...I had missed her then, because I had barely seen her since high school anyway; moving cross country limits that. We had a lot in common- for years we both ran away from a lot of baggage that we preferred to try and leave in the central valley. She always went back to it though. I wish I could've given her a bit the of the escape that I managed, but we each decide on our own path. Irregardless, I have missed her for years, and now I'll just miss her for longer.Man, she was a partner in crime and love and silly girlishness. I remember sitting with her in the common area behind the school, just chilling and talking bout whatever. The shadows stayed away on those days, all thoughts were towards the fun we had then... Theater, church, youth groups, boys, clothes, discovering the first decent coffee shop in Manteca (and that was a LONG time coming let me tell you). We managed plenty of sincere moments. I know she was sad even then, but she didn't talk to much about it, so we all let it lie. Her brother and my sister, as indicated by the wedding reference, we always a bonding point between us. The two of them were and are better folk than either of us could attain to be. We might've had more attitude, but damn if they didn't do everything "Right." So we would tease each other about them and tease each other to lift our more worldly spirits and convince ourselves that the pathes we chose were "Right" as well. I've learned that there is no path that doesn't teach, but I don't know what Amy learned. I hope a lot. I wish I could've talked to her more, but it is what it is, and regret creates guilt so I'll let it be....She was the first home town soul I told about my own pregnancy-- She was already carrying Sage, and we were at my sister Gina and Andy's wedding-- which was occurring because Gina was-- yep, pregnant. So our siblings weren't as Right as we had always assumed and we got a good laugh out of it. She was so excited to be mama though and was going to be the hippest one in California. hmmm...I'm in the very slow process of writing to Sage about her mama. I hope it's meaningful to her later in life. I bawl though everytime I start so I haven't gotten far. I just want to her to know that the last time I saw her mama, she was only talking about her.
