Day 23 -- "Funcky" cousins -- Colleen Funck and Erin Rose

Colleen....

Hannah was an amazing young woman! Her strength, faith, and courage is inspiring for everyone and her story has touched so many lives!

I first met Hannah at a Funcky Family Christmas. Now any family event is a lot to handle for anyone coming to meet the family, but a Christmas is an overload! Hannah was always full of energy, so she fit right in with all of us girls. I remember Uncle John and Aunt Sue trying to leave and they had to literally drag her out of there because she was having so much fun!

One of the things that I can vividly remember about Hannah is her laugh. She was always so full of happiness and laughter. Even when she was sick she always seemed to be smiling!

I remember the day I found out Hannah was sick. I was studying abroad in Italy and I was on my computer and I saw Aunt Sue's post. I thought no, this can't be true! I just wanted to get back on a plane and come give her a hug. Knowing that it was not possible to do that, I thought of a different way to try and help her. Almost every weekend we would travel and I would always end up in a church. I prayed for her in every single church I visited. The moment I knew God had this was when I went into St. Peter's Basilica and we ended up in the third row for mass that morning. For those of you that don't know Hannah's soccer number was 3, so that was my sign that no matter what everything would be okay.

The last day I saw Hannah, at her celebration of life party, she still had the biggest smile on her face the entire time! She is the strongest person I know. In hard times she never gave up and always saw the positive. I know she is still here with us today, because every once and a while I ask her to send me a sign. Within the next few hours, a sign does show up, whether it is a song that reminds me of her, the time on a clock, or butterflies flying in front of me. Hannah has become a guardian angel for us and I love knowing that she is still here guiding and protecting us! Happy 22nd birthday Hannah!

Erin...

I can still remember the first time I met Hannah. It was Christmas Eve at “The Funcky Family’s” house, and if you’ve never been to one of our holidays, it can be overwhelming because there are just so many of us! It was present time and everyone took their positions. I remember wanting to make Hannah feel included so I told her she could sit next to me and “baby” Julia Funck (who’s now taller than me). She fit so easy in our big family!

Fast forward a few years, I was on the bus coming home from cheerleading camp and my mom texted me that she was going to visit Hannah at her house. I immediately told her to wait until I got home, so I went to see her fresh off the bus in my cheerleading uniform. Something came over me when I got to my Aunt Sue and Uncle John’s house, I immediately got into bed with her where she was laying and we talked about tons of silly stories and just things to make us happy. There’s one in particular moment I’ll never forget, when my mom told Hannah about my “driver’s Ed” experience with her and how I pulled into the garage.....and just kept on going. I ran over all our beach chairs, all the umbrellas, my mom was screaming “that could’ve been a person!” That story in particular had Hannah to the point of crying laughing.
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I was a junior in high school when Hannah passed and now I’m going to be 25 in April. The years have flown by and now I’ve had my own experience with being in the hospital at 19 years old. In my hospital bed I remember thinking about how strong Hannah must’ve been during that time and I still smile and think about Hannah when the clock reads 9:11 (one of her special signs). The years will go by but there will always be little signs of Hannah to make us smile, and we always have a cheerleader of our own in heaven to pray to when we need a little help.