Chrissie and Trevia at Disney World
with Cinderella's castle in the background.
In Loving Memory of
Chrissie Carrigan
November 14, 1986 - December 6, 2001
When I was told that my sister was coming into this
world, I was in 9th grade Social Studies. I was called
to the office and my mom told me that the doctors were
going to do a C-section. I was excited to know that my
sister was going to be born. Although I didn’t know at
the time that it was a girl. I went back to class and
was on cloud nine for the rest of the day.
I was waiting patiently at a neighbor’s house for the
news. I knew that Chrissie was going to be a preemie
but I didn’t know she was going to have so many
complications. I was only 13 when she was born; I
wanted her to be home. Actually I wanted her home just
as much as my parents did.
The first time I got to touch her I rubbed the bridge
of her nose. If she weren’t already asleep, she would
yawn and go to sleep. My mom and dad both had special
places where they touched her. The nurses told us that
if we each touched her someplace different then she
would know that it was somebody different each time.
There were pictures of us on the side of her isolet and
she had her first stuffed animal in with her, a
mini-pound puppy. Later as Chrissie grew older I
would still rub her on her nose, as she would fall
asleep. She would often tell me to stop because it
would cause her to fall asleep. She remembered who
touched her nose.
Growing up with Chrissie was an adventure; she looked
up to me not just as a big sister, but a guide. Where
was I going to go next, Chrissie always wanted to know?
We would do things and go places together all the
time. One of Chrissies favorite activity growing up
(and she mentioned this in her toast at my wedding)
was, turning on the music in the kitchen and dancing.
We would dance and dance, granted the kitchen was very
small, but we still managed to make a lot of noise and
commotion.
As her guide things changed a little bit when I went to
college. I went to Hood College in Frederick, Maryland
and majored in Special Education. Chrissie inspired me
to teach special needs children. When my parents and
Chrissie were beginning to leave Chrissie looked back
and cried as she waved. I didn’t know but the song
“Somewhere Out There” was playing on the radio. This
song was the inspiration for our nicknames Tanya and
Fivel, from the movie An American Tale.
That night when I was talking to Chrissie, “Somewhere
Out There” was playing again. We both listened to it
and cried. She wanted to be with me and I wanted to be
home with her. I missed Chrissie a lot, but because I
was so close to home, I would go home on weekends.
This helped Chrissie deal with sissie not being at
home. She would often ask “Sissie when are you coming
home?” and it would be Monday. Often Chrissie would
come visit and spend the night. She pretended that she
was a college student. Everyone in my residence hall
accepted her as a member of Smith hall.
When I graduated and moved back home Chrissie was so
happy to have sissie home again. I guess what really
hurt her is when sissie found her future husband and
moved out for the second time. This time I wasn’t
going to move back home. Even though she was old
enough this time to understand, she still thought that
Peter was taking me away from her. So to help ease her
mind, Chrissie would spend the night at our apartment,
and she would bring her other best friend, her dog
Lace.
We would have so much fun watching movies, eating
popcorn, playing hide and seek and truth or dare and
sleeping together on our sleeping bags in the living
room. Chrissie remembers the first time we were
playing truth or dare and I fell asleep. I made it
through “Sissie your dare is…” Chrissie never let me
forget that night. She told me that if I fell asleep
again that she would freeze my bra. I tried to stay
awake from then on.
I think our greatest adventure was when I took Chrissie
and Peter to Disney World. I had been twice and the
second time I went Chrissie remembered. I told her
when she was older we would go. So she responded with
“So how old do I have to be?” I told her when she was
12 or 13 we would go. Well, in August of 2000 after
Peter and I were married and back from our honeymoon we
drove to Disney. We videotaped our adventures the
night before and the drive down to Florida.
Chrissie and Peter at Epcot, in the country of Japan.
It was our last day and she was missing Lace.
Peter had to finish 2 weeks at his old job, so that
meant Chrissie and I would have 2 full days together at
Disney. We almost didn’t make the trip because of the
job. Chrissie was so mad, and I was too because the
trip was paid for already. Well, we stayed at the Fort
Wilderness campground, and camped for the week.
Chrissie didn’t like the bugs, she never like bugs. I
was worried that I ruined the trip for her, but she
reassured me that she was having a good time. Our
first night after we dropped Peter off at the airport
it began to rain. We decided to drive over to Disney
Quest, so we weren’t sitting in the car with nothing to
do. DQ is an indoor interactive thing. I can’t
explain it any other way. It had stopped raining so we
walked around looking at the shops.
Then we saw them. A girl was walking around with
Tigger ears. We had to find them. We went from store
to store until we found them. Chrissie got the Tigger
ears and I got Eeyore. The ears are on a headband
covered with faux fur. Chrissie and I wore these ears
all week where ever we went. You can see it in the
pictures that we took. It was like something was
telling me to take lots of pictures of Chrissie for
this was going to be her last big trip.
 
Chrissie with Tigger at Disneyworld.
Little did I know that it was. I gave her the trip of
a lifetime for her Golden “14th” Birthday. She was
born November 14th, so it was an early birthday gift.
This is when things began to go down hill for Chrissie.
I became her rock to lean on when she needed me.
Sometimes I feel that I wasn’t there enough for her.
But everyone tells me that I was.
For her 15th birthday I took her to see “Harry Potter
and the Sorcerers Stone”. We both loved the Harry
Potter series of books. So bright and early Saturday
morning of November 17th we dressed up and went to see
the movie. Chrissie wore her purple cape that Peter
and I gave her, her black boots and her witches shirt.
I wore my witches’ shirt, witches hat and the Harry
Potter scarf that Peter had just won. We looked like a
pair of Harry Potter fans. We joked about all the
“muggels” the non-magical people. I ordered our
signature snack for the movies. A large buttered
popcorn and a large Cherry Coke. We ordered this every
time we went to the movies.
When the movie was over we went to Mrs. Fields and got
2 hot chocolate chip cookies. Chrissie leaned into me
and said, “This is the best sissie day I have ever
had.” She always told me that whenever we made plans
to do something together that it was a sissie day. I
really miss those sissie days…
I love you Fivel,
Tigger, Timone, Sissie !
Love Tanya, Eeyore, Pumbaa,
Sissie, Trevia
Chrissie and me at night in MGM studios, we were
just fooling around dancing in the street.
This is the one picture Chrissie was somewhere else when they took it. Mom was so hurt that she was not in the picture so she asked a friend to add her from another picture. The lady's name is Billie, and her web site is at Pretty As A Pixel Designs
This is Chrissie's nephew, Trevia and Peter's son Little Peter.
Doesn't he look ever so much like his Aunt Chrissie?
This is Trevia's Mortar board from Hood Graduation when she got her MS.
Chrissie and her best friend, Lace. Chrissie's family recently had to put Lacey Girl to sleep. The poor baby got cancer and we did not know till the 5th of February when Chrissie's mom took her to the vet. We tried everything to help her but she woke up so weak on Saturday, Chrissie's mom just said that is it I have to stop the pain for her. So she is with her Chrissie now. Lacey Girl, 5-21-97 to 2-14-04.
Thank god I have a friend
By Chrissie Carrigan
Thank god I have a friend,
She’s like an angel that god sent.
She comforts me and kisses me,
But when she’s not there, I’m alone.
She’s my only friend that cares,
She has two black eyes
and one black nose with little golden hairs.
She’s a very sensitive angel,
Every time I come home,
she’s happy and runs to say hello.
I love her and I know she loves me,
Because true friends we were meant to be.
She runs so fast and smooth,
You can tell her youth.
Thank god I have a friend,
She’s like an angel that god sent.
The only bad thing about my only friend is that
She’s not a person; she’s a dog.
My only friend, Oh my god.
Thank god I have a friend.
These flowers were drawn by Chrissie on January 9, 2001.
“Happiness is”
By Chrissie Carrigan
(November 14, 1986 - December 6, 2001)
Happiness is seeing a butterfly flutter by.
Happiness is being outdoors,
Happiness is being in the forest,
Happiness is where the home is,
Happiness is where my friends are,
Happiness is being with my dog,
Happiness is singing,
Happiness is praying,
Happiness is being in nature,
Happiness is love,
Happiness is life,
Happiness is the world,
Happiness is my dreams at night,
Happiness is friendship,
Happiness is my family,
Happiness is writing,
Happiness is happiness.
The pencil sketch was done by me (Trevia.)
It is Chrissie at 1 month old in her isolet with her pound puppy.
This where Chrissie's ashes are resting. Around her are
items that were special to her.
 A friend can hear a tear drop.
This webpage is created In Loving Memory of Chrissie Carriganon November 9, 2002
Last updated: October 17, 2006
© 2000 - 2006
Click on the Sailor Moon button below to send email to Chrissie's sissie...
Click on the "Home" button to read more about Chrissie ~
Click on the "Back" button below to visit Chrissie's special gifts page~
Click on the butterfly below to visit the special page
made by Chrissie herself, to promote her poetry ~
And click on the button below to visit the wonderful quilt page for Chrissie ~
 A big thank you to Rose Mary for creating the wonderful angel bear background for Chrissie's page!
 And thank you to my Bestest Buddy for fixing the photos
and some of the graphics for Chrissie's page!
Thank you also to Pammi for so beautifully framing Chrissie's photos, and to Karen for the wonderful "angel wings" image of Chrissie.
Andrew... Our Miracle, Our Angel
Visit Maria's pages for her little Christopher at
Maria's Tribute to Christopher
Christopher's Angel Friends
Angel Christopher
My Tribute to a Very Special Boy
This award is for ALL your lovely pages for Christopher and others.
Love: Marlene
Marlene's Pages
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