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 I
remember Caitlin Loved Ponies,
by Aunt Elizabeth
Caitlin
loved horses of any size and shape. She was wonderful
with them. I, on the other hand, am scared silly of the
things. Sweet girl that she was, Caitlin decided to take
me for a ride on what I still think was a HUGE horse
through what I know was a DENSE forest, miles and miles
deep. We got lost and had to be rescued by the men in
our family Uncle Brian and Sean. Now, Caitlin's memory
was a little different. She always said it was a pony
(anyone can tell from the picture who was right); the
forest was a small wood behind their house (hmmmph) and
the rescue was only the guys asking us to come back for
dinner.
 I
Remember Caitlin in London,
by Aunt Elizabeth
I have a wonderful memory of our recent trip to England. Despite some serious pain, Caitlin was
a joy to travel with. She loved to find exotic ethnic
restaurants -- something neither of our husbands seem to
like. We enjoyed a fabulous Indian meal, finishing every
last morsel. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing The King and I
and My Fair Lady and riding on the huge Ferris Wheel
near the Thames. We walked and walked, talked and talked
and generally just enjoyed each others' company.
 I
Remember Meeting Caitlin for the First Time,
by Lori
Andresen
I remember
when we first "discovered" this other Larkin
family. I thought we might have a nice email
relationship and possibly an occasional phone
conversation. I remember so clearly when Caitlin said
"We're coming up to Rhode Island next week." I
was thinking to myself, "Slow down there, we Rhode
Islanders take a bit longer to warm up to new
folk." Nothing was going to stop her from getting
here. She asked for nothing more than a couch to rest on
and some cheese for her Mom. When Dad, Tracy and I went
to meet them at the airport, I thought "OK, you can
make it through a couple of days with these people and
life will go back to the way it was." Well,
basically it took nothing more than a beer and a single
conversation for me to connect with my cousin. I felt I
had known her forever and hated to see her leave three
days later. I will be forever grateful that Caitlin
charged her way into my life!
I
remember that Dirt Woman knew Caitlin...
by Kristin
Morris
Caitlin and I went to see Dirt
Woman's Christmas show one year. Dirt Woman is a
Richmond institution - a rotund, bear of a drag queen
who delights in shocking local audiences.
"Dirt" was in rare form for this show,
distributing canned hams from a bejeweled chariot while
clothed in her Christmas finery.
Caitlin and I took it all in with
glee, and after the show we approached this local
celebrity to autograph her calendar for us. "Hi
Caitlin," Dirt Woman said to my amazement as we
approached the table. He signed our calendar "love,
Donnie".
I Remember
Caitlin at a Family Thanksgiving,
by Uncle Brian
 One
of the best thanksgivings ever was 1997. Aunt Maureen,
Caitlin, Dan, Michelle, Shane and Erica joined us at our
condo for dinner. Now our place is not huge and while we
didn't have to sit on each others laps all the time, we
did get cozy. As usual, Aunt Maureen brought enough food
to feed us all; Michelle made wonderful deserts. Aunt
Elizabeth cooked the turkey. Caitlin and I had cleanup
duty. Shane and Erica loved Caitlin -- who wouldn't. She
might have been an adult, but she knew how to play. It
was a wonderful Thanksgiving together. Caitlin was as
much a part of our family as Dan or Erica. And that was
one of the things that made her so dear to so many
people. Her cousin Lori commented on
it above and her sister Tracy
noted it below. Caitlin was immediately your daughter or
sister.
I Remember Caitlin and Toys for the
Kids,
by Lori Andresen
 Another
memory is that of the toys she felt my kids should have.
Tongues that grew disgustingly large in water, whoopee
cushions, and of course, potato guns. These gifts
generally arrived in a plain brown envelope with no
return address. As if I couldn't figure out who was
responsible!! At her last visit to RI, she purchased
potato guns for Zack, Nick, Riley, Hannah and Adrianna.
What fun the kids had shooting potato pieces at all of
the adults!!
I Remember
Lunchtimes at NAMI with Caitlin,
by Amy Andrews
 For
the few years I worked at the NAMI-VA office. Lunchtime
always felt like "Caitlin and Amy time". We
sometimes took turns bringing food from home - my
specialty being Mexican lasagna: Caitlin's was tomatoes
and cucumbers in Italian dressing. Certainly far from
fine dining but, in between phone calls, it became a
wonderful time to hang out together. It was a time to
talk about nothing and everything. To read the reams of
jokes Caitlin printed off the internet. Caitlin said or
wrote to me many times after I left NAMI-VA about how
she missed hanging out and having lunch together. I
couldn't agree more...
I Remember Caitlin as a Little Girl,
by Aunt
Nancy
 When
Caitlin was a little girl she would come to Chatham for
summer vacations. She, Crystal and I made many
interesting side trips during her stays. We did the
usual like picnics with Grandmother
Larkin and swimming in the old swimming hole and
Lake Taconic. But we also took longer trips like going
to New York City to visit the Empire State Building and
the Statue of Liberty.....that was when you could still
walk up to the top. One very special trip was when we
all dressed up in fashionable long dresses and went to
the ballet at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. She may
have been a "tomboy" but she sure looked like
high society that night....I want to thank you all for
getting the family together last summer. I will cherish
the time I spent with Caitlin.
I Remember Two
"Freaky Chicks"
by Tracy Wright Gandin
 The
last time Caitlin was here in Vermont, we went to get
our hair cut together. Hers was finished before mine and
I saw her saunter over to the hair embellishment counter
out of the corner of my eye. She walked over and handed
a tube to the woman who was working on my hair and the
next thing I know I had stiff purple spikes, as did
Caitlin. We were scheduled to go ride my horses at the
boarding stable after the haircut. We got a few strange
looks from the other clients at the barn! The horses
didn't seem to mind. Had Caitlin not been in my life, I
may never have experienced riding horses sporting a new
purple spike hairdo. When Caitlin came back into my life
as an adult, I expected meeting her to be strange and
awkward. It was not. I never met anyone else who I could
speak so openly to and who shared so many of my
thoughts. She was my sister. I call the photo
"Freaky Chicks."
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