Remembrances of Kim Perez

Kim Perez elicited powerful and passionate affections from so many people whose lives she touched.

In spontaneous outpourings at the end of the Rosary Prayer Service for Kim in Bonita, in the funeral eulogies in Chula Vista, the celebration of her life in East Lansing, and in a host of email messages and cards, those affections have resulted in so many compelling testimonies to the astonishing talents of this immensely capable yet ever so vulnerable young woman. Read a number of personal rembrances of Kim

A friend from Kosova writes at length:

"I was amazed to see Kim's ambitions and enthusiasms in pursuing this dream... Nothing stood on her way to make sure that all the essays she wrote were perfect, all the PhD program applications were perfect, and all her fellowship applications were perfect, and ultimately, nothing stood on her way to move on to a higher level of education, to attain more knowledge and expertise in order to make herself a very knowledgeable expert on African development so she can dedicate her life to the continent that lay at the very bottom of her heart.

And beside all these constraints and challenges that she was facing, she always had time to be there for me when I needed someone to talk to, someone to go out with, someone to go out for food shopping, when I needed a friend. In the times when I felt lonely, it was Kim that spared her precious time to be with me, and to let me know that I was not alone.

Kim dear, I am going to miss you for life, where you came to stay and not to go; not to leave me pursue my dream without you being there to listen to me; to listen to my stories of success this time, instead of stories of loneliness; to tell me about your success in making Africa a better place; to tell me how you say my best friend in Hausa language; to tell me that you were TO WALK this summer to get the title of Doctor in Social Sciences and that I should be there to scream out my lungs calling GO KIM GO when they call your name, to tell me sometimes that you were starting a family life, to tell me that you were becoming a Mom, to tell me that your children have an auntie in Kosova, and myself to tell my children that they have an American-Philippino auntie who has made Africa a happy place, and NOT to tell me that you will not be here."