Kali Brooke Lakes

Kali was unapologetically authentic. Kali was extremely headstrong, quick to anger but could also be gentile, even docile, and soft hearted.

Kali had two laughs- one a cackle and one a loud bellowing chuckle. The more excited she became about something, the louder she’d get.

She was a hard worker and she was always proud to attribute her work ethic to our Dad. She was always quick to jump first at the opportunity to help and was her biggest critic when she made tiny mistakes.

She loved to play in the water and the mud. Kali’s car was always covered in dirt, twigs, and had collections of rocks, feathers and pretty trinkets scattered its floorboards.

Her favorite outfit was a bathing suit, Chaco sandals, a yeti cup in hand and a fanny pack to keep the party going hands free. I feel like this is an image of Kali that most of us will remember her by, but here’s some things that you might not have known about her.

Kali loved board games but the Game of Life was the one she always pulled out to play.

Kali liked to watch TV. If she wasn’t watching cooking shows on Food Network, she was watching reality trash tv and she particularly liked shows on TLC.

She collected records, soda bottles, antique cameras, and made other people's trash treasure.

For Kali, tye dye was a color and was never one that worried about matching things or following the rules of fashion or interior design.

Her favorite clothes were Mom’s hand-me-downs and would wear them until there were holes in them.

Kali loved to dance. If you weren't dancing, she would make you get up and force you to dance until you forgot you didn't want to in the first place. Her moves were contemporary and artistic in nature, but could go from artistic to twerking in the club at any given second.

She loved doo-wap music from the 50’s and Ray Charles, she headbanged to System of a Down and she’d chill out with movie soundtracks and "Follow You to Virgie" by Tyler Childers.

Kali started her day with the crisp and refreshing Marlboro red and took her coffee with no sugar, but lots of flavored creamer.

Her favorite food was Granny’s Thanksgiving stuffing, but Aunt Cami’s cheese ball was a close second.

Kali was frugal and she loved helping you score a good deal. She was our eyes and ears for clearance, coupons and markdowns on household essentials - Gain laundry detergent to be specific.

Her favorite perfume was Light Blue by Dolce and Gabbana and Love & Sunshine from Bath & Body Works.

Kali didn't believe in being late. During our time of carpooling to work together, there were many a day we’d be sitting in the parking lot for an hour early or more because she wanted to avoid the possibility of traffic.

If you ever had a hard time finding a way to exit a social event, show up with Kali Lakes and you’d never have to stay a second longer than you needed. Kali was the gal to say when it was time to wrap things up. When it was time for Kali to go, it was time to go that very second.

Kali was a hugger. She would hug you harder than the hug you gave and she wouldn’t let go until you did first.

Her favorite movies were Fried Green Tomatoes, Labyrinth and Disney’s The Aristocats and she could proudly quote the entire script of the movie Step Brothers with Will Ferrell.

If you gave Kali the option of a luxurious, all expenses paid vacation to Paris or renting a pontoon and smelling like sweat and lake water for a weekend, she’d pick the lake option every time.

Kali liked to bake. Chocolate Chip Banana Bread was her specialty. Her sugar cookies on the other hand, well, she was a little heavy on the flour.

She loved animals, any and all of them but she had a special attachment to bunnies.

She thought every flower was beautiful and treated weeds like roses.

One of her favorite smells was the smell that was left on her clothes after leaving Granny and Poppy's house.

If she had the choice to be any Disney princess, Kali would've been Polkahontas.

Kali treasured memories of tea parties in the backyard with Mamaw and front porch talks with Papaw.

Kali loved her cousins and there’s too many memories to recount all the good times she had with each of them, but the memories can be summed up in one street name, Cedar Drive.

As a little girl Kali loved sucking her thumb, loved her blankey, playing with Barbies and Polly Pocket.

In elementary school, she was a proud member of the jump rope team at Shannon Johnson.

In middle school, she had a mid life crisis at the ripe age of 13 and chopped all of her hair off, dyed it black and became an emo kid.

In high school she was a wiz at math, hated reading with a passion, was involved in FFA, Envirothon and sang for the school choir.

Kali had aspirations of learning American Sign Language and becoming an interpreter for the deaf.

Kali's favorite holiday was Halloween. May 1st, her birthday, marks exactly 6 months until Halloween and last year she held a “Half Halloween” birthday party where dressing up in costumes was not a suggestion, it was a requirement. Kali dressed up as Alice from Alice in Wonderland.

Kali loved live music, and long snuggles on the couch with her cat, O’Malley.

Kali loved her family, she loved her friends and she loved reminiscing about the good times she had with each of them. I know that each of us will carry a special memory about Kali with us for the rest of our lives.

I hope that these little tidbits of information, as silly and random as they seem, will make you think about Kali the next time you wash your laundry with Gain, the next time you dress up for Halloween, the next time you make cookies, or the next time you see someone wearing tie dye. These little details are how I will remember Kali. Isn't it funny how the small things really do become the big things?