Remember Andie: Family sends classmates off with thanks

But this weekend, as that class graduates from high school, the students still carry the memory of Andrea "Andie" Phillips.

Andie's mom, Jackie Phillips, made a special presentation today (Friday) to the 2009 seniors, thanking them for their support of the Phillips family and for honoring Andie's memory.

At the eighth grade graduation in 2005, the class remembered Andie.

At the junior prom and senior homecoming, they honored her memory.

At one student's graduation party, the family displayed a rose and a picture of Andie.

Another student picked a tattoo on her foot to remember her classmate.

One family sent a plant to Jackie and Darwin Phillips, saying "Our life would be different if Andie was still here."

"The worse thing a parent can ever do is lose a child," Jackie said. Her family lost not only Andie but also 10-year-old Kallie Phillips.

"It's meant a whole lot to the whole family for them to remember Andie," she said. "The class just got it. They knew how important it was to remember her. We wanted to do something for the class."

The Phillips family, including Andie's sisters Jenna, now graduated, and 4-year-old Jaya, who they adopted from Vietnam, decided to give each member of the class a book.

Andie loved to read, Jackie said.

"Everywhere Andie went, she would take a book with her," she said. "She would even read at recess time in elementary school."

They chose the book "On the Night You Were Born," by Nancy Tillman.

The beautifully illustrated children's book celebrates the wonder of each person.

"It just says Andie was special and each one of them are special," Jackie said of choosing the book for the graduating seniors. "We want them to remember that, especially in times in life when things won't always be the way you want them to be."

She wanted to give each student a hardcover book, but couldn't afford them. She wrote an email to the publishing company asking if paperback books were available.

The next morning Jackie had a note waiting in her email inbox.

"We're so sorry for the loss of your daughters, and we would be happy to donate the forty books to Andie's class," a company spokeswoman wrote. "Please expect a shipment soon."

The Phillips family signed each book with a note of thanks to the students, and printed special bookmarks to go with them, reading "To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die," a quote from Thomas Campbell.

During the senior brunch today, Jackie presented the books on behalf of Andie's family to the graduating class.

"By watching you we have gotten to see Andie grow up and know what she might be like, what she would be doing or even wearing," Jackie said. "Andie would be honored if someday you would read this book to someone you love and remember her once again."

The Phillips family has already established granite memorial benches for both Andie and Kallie at the Kingsley-Pierson Middle School as well as a message board at the school, using money people gave in memory of the two girls.

"We've just had a wonderful amount of support from the community and the class," Jackie said. "We're so fortunate to be in a small community. Living in a small town everybody knows everybody, and they seem to put themselves in your shoes. They're wonderful at caring and understanding."