There are a few people you meet in life who make everyone around them feel welcome, loved, and accepted for who they are. Kendra was one of these rare souls. I am heartbroken for her boys, Tyler, her extended family and her large community of friends in  Mancos, Durango, and beyond. 

I worked with Kendra at CTA, and I can say that I owe my livelihood to her because she was the one who hired me. She kept me afloat when I was going through a lot of transition in my own life. I was a bit scattered those years, but she was patient and always willing to listen. I have never forgotten that kindness. 

My favorite Kendra story is below:

The night she and Tyler met for the first time was at a house party in Durango on 6th and 6th.  She didn't want to go because it was a weeknight, if I recall correctly, but I drug her along anyway. As soon as she walked into the house, she and Tyler somehow found each other and began talking. They stood in the kitchen for the next 4 hours locked in deep conversation with him. I checked in on her several times during the evening, and each time I stopped she shooed me away and said she was doing great. As we drove back to campus later that night she told me, with Tyler's number in hand, that she could envision marrying him someday. At the time, I found it wild that you could know in your heart something like that after one night, but then a few years later they did! She knew the same night she met him. She just knew. Each time we caught up over the years since that time, she would thank me for dragging her to that party where she ended up meeting Tyler.