Sadaya Maddox Burnett

Sadaya enjoyed dance from a young age and would dance every time she heard music. She started dancing at 2 in Las Cruces and fell in love with dance and performing.

Sadaya expanded her performance abilities as she tried out gymnastics in Dallas and continued dancing when they moved to Pampa, Texas. She learned tap, jazz, and continued ballet under the direction of Madeline Graves. It was there that Sadaya also learned that she loved cheerleading. As a young cheerleader, she was introduced to stunting and she loved being able to hold up her teammates, and ensured no one ever fell. Sadaya was an incredible base and loved stunting.

As we look back on her life, it is easy to see that she was destined for the stage. She never dimmed under the spotlights and felt comfortable in front of the audience. Sadaya loved to dress up, play pretend, and tell elaborate stories. We recently found videos that highlight her acting abilities and hilarious facial expressions. Sadaya loved to sing and make up her own songs and always had a dance to go with it. She was always ready to put on a show.

When her family moved to Alamogordo, she also tried basketball and t-ball. She liked being able to hang out with the kids but her heart was still in cheer and dance. As she awaited the opportunity to dance, she would slide on her ballet slippers and dance in the family's dining room. The truth is, she didn’t need anything fancy, just to turn on music and her heart was happy.

Sadaya participated in cheer at Xtreme Amplitude with Miss Celeste and Miss Candice and continued until she found her other passion, theater.

Sadaya followed in her cousin Kierstin’s footsteps and tried out for Childrens Music Theater’s the Hobbit. She was cast as a goblin. They teased her hair and had her storm through the crowd. She embraced the part and did incredible at bringing the show to life. We were shocked at how beautiful she looked even with her crazy face paint.

Once she had her first taste of the theater life, she was hooked. As many kids do, as soon as auditions for one show were finished, she was already picking out her next audition song. The next show was the Lion King where she was asked to play a number of parts. Sadaya embraced the parts of twinkling stars, the grass of the Savanah, and our favorite….the elephant butt. She was thrilled to learn how much she would be on stage and savored every moment of it. When the animals walked through the audience, it created an awe-inspiring magic moment that Sadaya cherished.

In the Wizard of Oz, she was an Ozian. Sadaya was not one to wear dresses often, but she commented on how absolutely beautiful she felt in the dress she got to wear.

In Willy Wonka she was part of the stage crew and learned how to make all of the magic happen behind the scenes. Her brute strength was shocking as she made the hard things look easy. She loved working with Mr. Derek and all of his shenanigans.

Most recently Sadaya twirled and danced as the tallest costume to date as the Knife in “Beauty and the Beast.” She also played the role of a terrifying giant wolf. This was the first time she wore a microphone and she was absolutely thrilled. She was so thankful for the theater and all of the friends she made. Sadaya was grateful for all of the experiences she had from theater both good and challenging because she knew it was all helping her become a better person. She admired Miss Heather and how she helped her feel comfortable and confident. She loved helping build the sets and being involved in theater any way she could.

When Sadaya wasn’t at the theater you could find her working on 4H projects. She was so excited that she finished her pillow case early so she could make another one. She was proud of herself for making pajama pants. Sadaya was trying to convince her parents to let her get a goat. She was excited to try something new. Last year she entered projects for 4H for the first time and was so proud and excited to have won a prize at all. Then, some of her items made it to the state fair and it was as if she had won the Nobel Prize.

Sadaya also loved Jesus and going to church. She was so thankful for her Sunday school teachers and for a pastor that took the time to get to know her. Her church was Mountain View and Pastor Anthony was her pastor. She was not ashamed of her faith and belted out Jesus songs. And you guessed it, she had choreography for them too.

She was an outstanding student and worked diligently. Although she was only in 7th grade, she had already completed a large portion of 8th grade. She enjoyed going to A2Z and cherished the friendships she made. Miss Amber was her favorite teacher. She looked forward to their daily walks each day and getting to spend time with her friends. Sadaya was so excited to go to Prom next year. She had already started looking for dresses.

Sadaya loved her family. She loved being a “sister cousin” as we call them in our family. They are cousins that are closer than cousins; they are more like sisters. When her cousins were around, she wasn’t an only child anymore for better or worse. She had big cousins to teach her and guide her and a little cousin, Charlie, to mentor and play with. The bond these girls have is really special and will be greatly missed.

Sadaya loved her Aunt Echo. They shared their love of dance and laughter and secrets like Sadayas first crush. Sadaya prepared her aunt to be a mom, that is a very special bond between an aunt and niece. She was blessed with a big loving family, she loved her Grandma Sandy, Grandma D, her Great Grandparents Tommie and Josette, her uncle Matthew, her Great Aunts Yvette, Fran, and Kris and Great Uncle Bruce.

She loved her mom and her dad. Sadaya spoke highly of them and admired their hard work and who they were as people. She knew she had become the young lady she was because they had taught her integrity, hard work, kindness, and selflessness. Sadaya always had a way of seeing and honoring the things others didn’t see. The little things that made people special.

Monica and Steve did a great job of teaching her the value of family. She enjoyed spending time with all of her family members. She valued the stories and lessons from her great grandparents and grandparents. They taught her how to give gifts that were meaningful to people that she as a child could do, such as making dessert for the family meals. That was something she absolutely loved to do. She, like her Daddy, loved to cook for people. Mostly desserts but also breakfast.

Sadaya was a happy helper. If you needed help, often she could anticipate the need before it was asked. And, when asked more often than not she would happily help. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it was met with an eye roll or a sigh of annoyance, she was a teenager after all. But the truth is, she could sense that the person needed a little extra love and was always ready to give it.

Sadaya was so excited to go to Gulf Coast Jam in a few weeks and absolutely loved Morgan Wallen. She had bought a jean skirt and the jewels to bedazzle it to fit one of the themes. She had her nail designs all picked out. It was so much fun seeing her face full of surprise on Christmas morning when she realized she was actually getting to go.

Sadaya loved music. She loved all kinds of music. As we prepared for her Celebration of Life we laughed about the wide variety of music t-shirts she had. From Morgan Wallen and Luke Bryan, to TuPac and Little Wayne, to Queen and AC/DC and everything in between. She loved it all and danced to it all.

There are so many incredible things to say about this young lady. She touched so many lives in her short 13 years. As her family, we were so blessed by her presence and we are so proud of the influence she had on everyone in our community and on every person she met. Sadaya will be remembered for her beautiful smile, her wonderful laugh, her big blue eyes, for being herself, for speaking her mind, being a helper, for being kind, and most of all for her beautiful soul.

Rest in Peace Sweet Sadaya, until we meet again, we will miss you every second of every day and we will love you forever.