Taylor
Who is Taylor Mae Stinchcomb? The answer to this question has many answers. Her short life of just over 15 years has sparked a lot of attention as it came to a very sad end early Tuesday morning June 21, 2011. She was a force of nature. She lived life to the fullest every second of every day. It sounds cliche, but it is true. I should know. She’s my baby sister.
Taylor was the youngest of us. With three siblings nearly 10 years her senior she hit the floor running. She refused to be left behind. She wasn’t afraid of anything and wanted to do everything, herself. When she was 3 she would drag a chair from the kitchen table across the kitchen and climb up to make her own popcorn for the movie she put in to watch. She not only was at every school or sporting event for myself and my brother and sister, she was somehow involved, often in-charge. She loved her family.
She loved her church too. She grew up going to church with us on a regular basis, but she wasn’t the kind of person that was just going through the motions. She truly loved to be there. She knew everyone. When she was little she would help me to lead worship for kids that were older than she was. She would come up with motions to the songs and help teach them to the other kids. She would dart up and down the halls talking to kids and adults alike. As she got older, she helped out in the nursery and in the cafe. She loved the cafe. She would make up new drinks and take charge of people more than twice her age. She was a part of the church’s basketball program. She played until she aged out. Not only did she play though, she also volunteered.She would help in anyway that she could from reffing to cleaning long after she had aged out of the program. She was also involved in the youth group. She had a great time there and had many close friends. She was on fire. She would attend every event and sit in the front row. She set goals for herself above her own maturity level. She didn’t want to live life easy. She wanted to challenge herself to be a better person for God.
Softball was an integral part of her life. She started playing softball at a very young age. She continued to play as she grew up. She had a talent for pitching and did very well with it. She played on the travel team for several years making great friends with her teammates. They were quite the family. She made the high school team as well and worked hard. She wasn’t afraid to ask what she could improve on and would take great care in improving what she could. She wanted to be the best that she could be and knew that no one was perfect. There was always room for improvement. She had a lot of fun with her softball team both on the field and off.
Taylor was on a horse from the time she was a toddler. She would tag along to my horseback riding lessons and made sure she always got a pony ride. Her love for horses never changed. She would even come with me to work at the stable and tag along on trail rides. She was happy to do anything at the barn. Riding came naturally to her. She would go to watch horse shows and often could be found riding around on a competitors horse.
Her love for animals didn’t stop at horses however. She had many pets growing up and if there was an animal near by, you could be sure she was aware of it. She was fascinated by animals great and small. When she was presented with the opportunity to lease a horse for the summer or get a dog of her own, she chose to get a dog. She also chose to rescue a dog instead of buying. She fell in love with Romulus the moment she saw him at the shelter. She came home and plead her case in wanting him. She got her answer when Dad showed up with him, in a matching lime green collar and leash, her favorite color. He was slightly ill when he came home originally and ended up developing bloat less than two weeks later. He had surgery to save his life and Taylor took amazing care of his special needs. When he was healed, she went through training classes with him and worked hard. She was so proud when they received the top score in their class. She was passionate about spreading awareness that her doberman was a sweet well behaved dog. Being a rescue he presented many challenges, but she was never discouraged and knew with some work they could make things better.
Taylor was many things in this world, but most importantly to me, she was my baby sister.
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