Dell's Presentation from the Memorial

Several people have asked for a copy of the remarks of the speakers. Here is the first. Posted by Teisha's Mom.

Dell’s presentation:
“Teisha loved her family and her family loved her. On behalf of her family, her Mother Debbie and I we thank you for coming and welcome you to this celebration of Teisha’s life.
My name is Dell Smith I am not Teisha’s father but she honored me by calling me Dad. Teisha made her first appearance in my life at the age of 2 and for the next 40 years she was a constant presence.
---I REMEMBER
Watching her grow from a toddler in to a mature adult. This took place sometime between the ages of 5 and 6.
---I REMEMBER
Watching her participate in youth softball and soccer and in High School Volleyball. She was a good athlete and a better teammate.
---I REMEMBER
The almost non-stop singing of everything from TV jingles to rock and roll. I marveled at how she could memorize so many lyrics.
---I REMEMBER
Her moving into prominence musically and watching her perform in High School musicals and choir. This was also a time when we lived in a round house in Lake Oswego where she honed her theatrical skills in debates over whether she should eat beets. In the evenings when we craved sweets it was time to sing “ITS TEISHA BROWNIE TIME” (to the tune of Howdy Doody) after which she would whip us up a batch of brownies.
---I REMEMBER
That it was exciting and a bit sad when she left home to become a Duck and how amazing it was to go to Eugene to hear her perform with the Gospel Choir.
---I REMEMBER
Her graduation and return home and her working for a short time for Maurice Lukas. As a Blazer fan I couldn’t wait for the “Take Your Dad to WORK Day”
---I REMEMBER
Her start in Real Estate and the excitement of seeing her picture in the paper as a top rated salesperson.
---I REMEMBER
The launching of her music career first with Say Uncle and later Amelia. She sang her heart out at a hundred venues from Anthony Lake in Eastern Oregon to the Newport Hilton and from Saturday Market to Mississippi Studio to Kruger Farm.
---I REMEMBER
How she moved between careers, venues and circumstances effortlessly and with elegance and grace –which was a paradox because she was also one of the clumsiest people I’ve ever known. If it was there to---
--be run into
--tripped over
--spilled
--or stepped in
Teisha would git’er done.
In High School a classmate ran over her foot with his car and she was just standing there. Teisha wore her emotions on her sleeve and her food on her chest.
---I REMEMBER
That day almost 10 years ago when we got the diagnosis. She had leukemia. Five years passed of watch and wait for the next shoe to drop. It did. It was Bone Marrow transplant or die.
---I REMEMBER
Her hospital stay. I bought her a pair of Super Woman PJ’s so she could fly in her wheelchair to CAT Scans, X-Rays and MRI’s. She had spirit and we had hope.
---I REMEMBER
The aftermath when things were never the same. She developed Graft-versus-Host disease and suffered with every awful symptom and fought them all.
---WHAT I REMEMBER THE MOST
Was to watch Teisha slowly disappear. I know she mourned the loss of the person she once was. The effect of the disease took away her image of herself. She lost her sense of taste and for someone like Teisha who loved to eat that was tragic. She lost her energy and in the end she was losing her singing ability.
But she never gave up hope or stopped the fight until the final day when there was nothing left to try.
Her last words were “The war is over”.
I don’t like to think that a life force as strong as Teisha’s can be ended. So I won’t.
I don’t like waking up in the morning to a world with no Teisha in it.
I loved her very much and I will remember.