Andrea Nichole Ray

What a beautiful girl. What a beautiful life.

I was blessed to know Andrea through my sister. They were the best of friends. They met in hair school 3-4 years ago. I knew they were going to be fast friends from the moment I met Andrea, she reminded me so much of Kara!

This was a girl who stuck by your side through thick and thin. She loved life. She always had a smile and a kind word. She gave me the biggest hugs each time I saw her. Her laugh was truly contagious.

When Andrea found out she was expecting a baby, she was thrilled. She had tons of questions for me, and loved spending time with Graysen, who was just a little baby at the time. She took great care of herself, and her baby. Kara was there for the birth. I knew from the start she was going to be a good mom.

...and boy was I right! She loved Brody more than life itself. She was such an intentional mother. She really viewed motherhood as her job, and was privileged to take it seriously. I was so proud of her, at such a young age!


and look what an adorable baby she had! Brody is precious to us. He is just over a year old now.

We will miss you Andrea. I know I didn't know you nearly as well as my sister, and many others, but I will miss the updates on you and Brody from Kara...well, I know I'll continue to get updates about Brody anyway! I will miss seeing you when you stop in STJ to visit with K, or meeting you girls in Rolla for lunch.

I know Kara will miss you her whole life. She will miss hearing your voice. She will miss your advice. She will miss having you stand by her side on her wedding day, but we will think of you, this is for sure. She is blessed to have Brody, such a beautiful part of you. She will watch over him and love on him, you can be rest assured of that.

Thank you for giving Kara the greatest gift of all, and that is assurance that you will be together again some day. When God calls her home, you will be waiting at the gates for her, and I know it will be happy, happy day for you two to be together again.

She lived a beautiful life, one that we should all take note of...I know I will.