Kelsey Louise Corps

The moment that you died

Our hearts were torn in two

One side filled with heartache

The other died with you.

We often lie awake at night

When the world is fast asleep, and

Take a walk down memory Lane

With tears upon our cheeks.

Remembering you is easy

We do it everyday

But missing you is heartache

That never goes away

We hold you tightly within our heart’s

And there you will remain

Until the joyous day arrives

That we will meet again.

All our love, Mum & Dad

A poem for Kelsey from her Mum and Dad, heartfelt expression of deep and abiding sorrow and heartache, but also of their memories of a lively and loving daughter and of a love that will never die. Ultimately, it is a poem of hope of a joyous reunion at some pint in the future, when all earthly hurts will fade into the distance.

The loss of someone we love inevitably brings sadness, but when that person is so young, there is little or nothing anyone can say to mitigate the grief of those closest to her.

The circumstances of Kelsey’s passing are tragic, and it is an inescapable fact that at just twenty years of age, she has left far, far too soon. To celebrate her life, however, is a mark of the greatest love and respect, one that Kelsey would undoubtedly appreciate far more than any sombre ritual. So today, our service will be a secular one, with the minimum of ceremony, placing Kelsey at its very heart. We will pay tribute to her through a combination of collective remembrance, personal reflection, poetry, and music, chosen and indeed, written, by her family and friends to reflect Kelsey’s character, tastes, and unique outlook on life.

Kelsey was 20 years old and full of life, she lived at home with her Mum (Desley), Dad (John-Paul), Sister (Jasmine) and her dog (Brandy). Brandy would never have been here if it wasn't for Kelsey bringing him home one day and saying, "We have a

dog now". If Kelsey wasn't at home, she was either working at Salt Ayre as a receptionist, sunbeds or out gallivanting with her best friends Tim, Tom and Bethan, usually at the pub, on walks or at their homes.

Kelsey always made so much effort to look her best whether that be for work, parties or simply to be chauffeured to the shop for some snacks. Kelsey's appearance, music and friends were her passion, those together were something she loved.

Looking good, partying and being with her friends brought Kelsey so much joy and she’d love to make memories. She would always have her phone in hand to capture those special or more so embarrassing moments.

Kelsey always had hilarious stories to share about what she had been up to at the evenings or weekends. She would come home from work or wherever she had been and say such things like, "Guess what" or "Listen to this,” and would begin filling the family in on what she had been up to. Of course, these stories were filtered down for her parents but Jasmine got to hear all the details.

On some days you could find Kelsey just enjoying the comforts of her own home, lying in bed, wearing one of her many dressing gowns, which would usually be covered in make-up and food stains. Family members would open her bedroom door

to find her lying in bed, airpods in and she would just glare up at them and say "WHAT". Mostly Kelsey would be laid in bed binge watching a series with her favourite snacks, strawberry Volvic water, orange Lucozade, prawn cocktail Skips or salt and vinegar Squares. On rare occasions, when she had the energy, she would have whipped herself up some chips, cheese and gravy or steak bakes, both smothered in tomato sauce and the empty plates left to fester in her room. Her mum would be constantly telling her to bring her plates down. Another one would be to bring towels and washing down from her room too, Kelsey would spend so long in the bath or shower, everyone would be desperate for the toilet and she would shout

"WELL IM IN HERE YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT", but if it was Kelsey who needed the loo, that would be a different matter, whoever was in there would be expected to get out of the bathroom for her straight away.

Kelsey would spend hours up in her room playing music from all genres, putting her face on and planning that day’s antics, no two days were ever the same.

Kelsey enjoyed her work as a receptionist and was very hardworking. Before this job she was very shy and wouldn’t even pay for her things at the till or speak to anyone on the phone. Kelsey’s confidence had grown throughout her time at Salt Ayre and she became very popular too, not like she wasn't all ready. Kelsey’s social media added to her confidence from all the support and likes she would receive on posts.

She thrived on being labelled the outgoing one in a group but deep down she was still that nervous person, so conscious of what everyone thought of her. Kelsey would call you boring if you didn’t do what she wanted to do, being stubborn at times when she never got her own way, but most of the time she did. For example, if plans clashed with her hair wash day they simply could not go ahead. Yet, she expected everyone else to change their plans to suit her, often bribing them with the most simple of things such as, "If you do it I'll buy you a Maccies". Kelsey would message Jasmine and say, "Can you do me a favour?".... and if Jasmine agreed … "You're the best sister ever".

Although Kelsey used to call Jasmine thick and say, "How did you even go to uni?", Kelsey was well known for asking the stupidest questions. There was once a time that Kelsey said, "I wonder if cats fart?" At the time, a family friend's pet cat Felix was sitting on her knee with his bum in her face. As if in response to her question, Felix promptly farted. She laughed so much she nearly wet herself. Kelsey’s laugh, as I’m sure you all know, was infectious, deep and husky, and often followed a

sarcastic comment. Kelsey's Nana Shirley used to say, "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit", and Kelsey would repeat this to anyone else who tried to be clever with her. She had quite a dark sense of humour and disliked people trying to be funny.

Humour came naturally to her.

A message from her employers at Salt Ayre.

“Kelsey was a bright, dedicated and well thought of member of our team who had recently completed a Customer Service Practitioner Apprenticeship with us. She had also been nominated for a Learner Resilience Award based on how she continued with her studies under the difficult circumstances of the last 18 months - a fantastic achievement. She was a brilliant colleague and friend to many, with a welcoming smile always at the ready to greet our customers and help with their queries. She will be greatly missed by us all, though we feel extremely lucky to have known her and proud to be able to call her one of our own.

For those of you who don’t know me I’m Kelsey’s older sister Jasmine. Everyone usually thinks I’m younger than Kelsey, which she liked to boast about. I always wonder if Kelsey seemed older because she would act mature around new people, however if you knew her, you can back me up when I say Kelsey and mature just don’t go together.

Kelsey would effortlessly make me laugh and was always fun to be around, never taking life too seriously. I would go mad at her for always having her phone in her hand, filming or taking pictures of me off guard. “Do it again I wasn’t recording”, she’d tell me, I’d usually just do it again just to make her laugh. Kelsey would hate it when I’d purposely try to embarrass her in public, to the point she would actually stop asking me to go places with her. I would get texts that would say, “can you do me a favour?”, knowing it would involve me giving Kelsey a lift somewhere last minute. I would always complain but I really

loved blasting music in my car with Kelsey, she would tell me my music was awful but I’d see her making a note on her phone of the songs, so she could listen to them later. Hence her interesting music taste. During these short car journeys we would briefly catch up on each other lives. I now regret not taking up the opportunities I had

to drive Kelsey places, as it meant we could have spent more time together.

I’ll forever cherish the weekday evenings where I’d go into Kelsey room, sit on the edge of her bed and rant to her about my day. Kelsey would always speak her mind with me and often talked sense into me, it was like she was my big sister. I admire how headstrong Kelsey was and remember how she would tell me “just do it”, motivating me to step out of my comfort zone and put myself first.

I could talk about Kelsey and how she was the best little sister all day. Kelsey you are beautiful inside and out, you will continue to be the beautiful light in my life, I love you. As you danced in the light with joy, love lifted you. As you brushed against this world so gently, you lifted us. Please never stop talking about Kelsey to me, share your memories of her with me and I’ll share too. I ask each of you to keep Kelsey alive in your hearts.

(Michael Giacchino - Stuff We Did🎶)

KELSEY, OUR FRIEND

Tim, Tom & Bethan

Kelsey was all about having fun and making memories. There wasn’t a day that went by where she wouldn’t want to make a tit out of her friends, or herself for that matter.

After all, she did say that she was the funny one of the group.

Not only was Kelsey funny, she was also a kind, bubbly, outgoing character with a loud mouth. Which was funny because she couldn’t even go to the shop to buy her own underwear without having to get me to go to the till for her, because she’d get

that embarrassed.

There are so many stories I could tell about Kelsey and her crazy antics, but I haven’t got enough time, and some of them may not be that appropriate. I really don’t know how to explain how much I will miss her, by best friend. The girl I could laugh, cry, and just embarrass myself with. I will forever treasure our time together and keep our memories with me.

Kelsey was an absolute legend!

She will be forever missed by us all, but never forgotten.

Memories are the loveliest thing

They last from day to day.

They can’t get lost

They don’t wear out

And can’t be given away.

‘Five simple lines that almost say it all. I say ‘almost’ because there is something

else we can do with memories, we can share them. We come into this world with

nothing, and we leave with nothing. In a world of seven billion souls, we could quite

easily come and go without trace were it not for the memories of those who know us,

who love us and who respect us.

Like the most popular guest at the party Kelsey has undoubtedly left too soon. It is you who will shape the footprint she leaves behind. Kelsey has meant and always will mean, so much to so many people. As we have heard, Kelsey was bright, lively, funny, bubbly and outgoing. Very much-loved by her family and those close to her, she was not only very popular with her friends and work colleagues, but also well respected by her employers. In one way or another, she has touched all of your lives so, remember her and find comfort in all the funny stories and in those little everyday things that will inevitably come to mind from time to time. Most importantly of all, remember her every day. They are not gone, those who leave us this great heritage of remembered joy. They still live in our hearts, in the happiness we knew, in the dreams we shared. They still breath in the lingering fragrance, windblown from their favourite flowers. They still smile in the moonlight’s silver and laugh in the sunlight’s sparkling gold. They still speak in the echoes of words we’ve heard them say again and again. They still move, in the rhythms of their favourite music, in the themes and lyrics of their favourite songs. They have not died; their memory is

warm in our hearts, comfort in our sorrow. They are not apart from us, but a part of us, for love is eternal, and those we love shall be with us throughout all eternity.

May Kelsey forever be a part of your lives!

(Faithless - Insomnia🎶)