Bethany befriended me during cross country practice at Bishop O’Reilly. She was a funny, lovable, and talented girl. I wrote a little something else hopefully that can be used at her memorial. I remember Bethany called me one day and said, “Nora, I just heard the funniest quote – Be yourself, because everyone else is taken.” Bethany lived a beautiful life, not without pain, but I know she really loved life and experienced it to the fullest. I miss you and love you, Bethany!

Bethany came into my life during a particularly hard time for both of us back in 2007ish? We were both military wives stationed in Hawaii, and our husbands, who worked together, were leaving on an Iraq deployment for 6 months. Unlike Bethany, I was also active duty and had to work long hours, which sometimes included weekends. Also unlike Bethany, I was caring for 3 children- my two kids, Kenny 12, Leia 1 yr and my neice, Sarah 13. So she would babysit for me if I had to work during times that the kids weren’t in school or when Leia’s daycare wasn’t open.

This was before she & Juan had Avalon, so Bethany wasn’t as “domestically experienced” to put it nicely, lol. Still, she did her best and I would have lost my mind if it wasn’t for her helping me and keeping me company. She was like my deployment spouse, lol. She’d babysit while I worked and I’d come home and make us all dinner, since she couldn’t really cook back then. She’d join us for our family work-outs and I’d help her move or change her car battery- we were very much opposites, but it seemed to work. (I’m actually smiling as I write this).

One thing we shared though, was our love for books. We swapped them all the time and I remember giving her The Mists of Avalon to read. It was a huge book and she finished it in less than 2 days! Now whether or not It was that book that inspired her to name her baby girl, I couldn’t say- those stories are well known, afterall. But years later, when she told me her baby’s name, I immediately thought of my loaning it to her.

Sadly, we didn’t see as much of each other once our husbands returned and just a few months later, I was sent to Iraq for my own 6 month deployment. When I came back, we maybe hung out a handful of times before our families each got stationed across the country from each other. We slowly grew apart and stopped talking completely.

Then, just a few years ago, I started thinking about her again and realized we weren’t even FB friends anymore. I reached out to Juan and was stunned to learn they had divorced years before that and she had become a successful author pen named as Autumn Kalquist! I couldn’t believe it. We reunited on messenger and caught up, and I followed her work online.

She seemed happy, living her best life. I gushed about her to my niece, Sarah, who had become her little side-kick during that time in Hawaii. We were so proud of her! And later in 2019, I reached out to Bethany in pain after Sarah took her own life and we reminisced about her.
( and now I can’t stop crying).
Bethany had told me about her struggles with cancer, but last I remembered she was in remission. After Covid, I was trying to distance myself from social media, so I didn’t realize she was sick again. Then yesterday, I smiled as I was scrolling through FB and saw her picture pop up, but was instantly heartbroken as I read the post and realized it was her obituary. Oh, sweet girl. And her precious Avalon.

Bethany really did mean a lot to me and I hate that we grew apart like we did. She really was unlike any other person I’ve met and was so inspiring. My heart goes out to all her family, friends, & loved ones & all those blessed to have known her. She was an incredible human being.

Forever grateful for being part of her life. One of the last things she shared with me “if you walk through life with your heart center closed, like most people do, trying to control life to be “safe” you are cut off from experiencing the Magick and because you can’t feel it you believe it’s not real. It’s REAL!” and “Everything you suspect is real that out society doesn’t believe in IS real, the things I used to write about as “Magick” in my books all have a real world equivalent that is more exciting than any book I’ve ever read or wrote.” I’ll cherish this final conversation always.

You said her ultimate ambition was to awaken others to life’s inherent beauty and joy and she certainly did. Forever reminding me the part of myself to tune into and nourish and to never doubt the magic in this world. I love you Bethany. I love you Jen. And much love to all family and friends still processing her transition from our physical world ❤️