17-year-old Rebecca Townsend was and exceptional young girl. Well liked at school, she was hardworking and was very kind. She founded her high school’s chapter of She’s the First, an organization that sponsors education for girls in low-income countries, something she was passionate about supporting. This fall, she was supposed to attend Notre Dame University and in anticipation of this next chapter, she wrote a letter to her future self as part of a school project.
In her letter, she wrote to her future self as part of a project while she was a sophomore and in it she included a three item bucket list.
December 2012
Dear me,
So I guess I’m a senior now (wow that didn’t come out cool. I’m not cool…oops) Well, hi. Currently I’m a little sophomore. I’m five foot two, I weigh 98 pounds. Maybe I’ll grow a little bit in the next two years…
So I haven’t had a boyfriend yet, sadly. I really hope by senior year I’ll have a cute one (I’m not being shallow, he should be cute…as a plus). I think I want to go to college in a city, maybe I’ll go to Fordham or Boston College.
Let’s see…memories? I don’t really have any worth sharing. I’m glad I’m more self-confident this year. Last year, some people were pretty mean to me…Hey, maybe by now they will have stopped. Well, I hope I keep having good grades for the next years.
Bucket list:
– Kiss in the rain
– Fly to Spain
– Save a life
Yeah, I don’t know what I want to do before I die. So my friends right now are Sammy, Jess, Emily, Drew, Lauren, Emma, Andrea and Katie. My best friends not at this school are Molly, Devrie and Anna. I love the play and the volleyball team. I really want to be in one of our school musicals. Or get a lead in the play. Well this was homework and I’m doing this the day of…oops. Maybe by the time I read this I’ll stop procrastinating HAHAHA. Like that would happen.
Bye, Me!
Love, Past Rebecca
Photo credit: Remembering Rebecca / Facebook
According to her sister, Rebecca did get to to Spain. Her parents took her on a vacation there. And she did share a rainy kiss with her boyfriend. She also accomplished the third item on her list on July 2, 2015, although with tragic consequences for everyone who loved her.
She and her friend Benjamin Arne, were walking home from watching the fireworks, when she turned and saw a car driving straight at them and it wasn’t slowing down. Rebecca pushed her friend out of the way, and took the brunt of the impact herself. Benjamin suffered serious injuries, but survived. Rebecca, sadly, did not.
“Rebecca, above all else, was kind,” Rebecca’s sister wrote as part of her eulogy, which she shared on Facebook. “She had experienced bullying and meanness when she was young, and channeled that energy into befriending everyone around her. As she said to my mom last week when she was texting about 40 different people at the same time – “You can never have too many friends, mom.”
Upon hearing of her passing, Rebecca’s peers at Notre Dame started a fundraiser in her name for She’s the First. Her friends wrote, “In Rebecca’s honor, we ask that you tell others about her, pass on acts of kindness and treat everybody around you the way Rebecca would have, and truly live every day with joy and gratitude. You are welcome to post about Rebecca or about your acts of kindness on your account and tag #rememberingrebecca to carry on her legacy.” All proceeds raised will go to She’s The First. You can donate to Rebecca’s cause here.
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