We are dear friend and fiancé of Jamie Lee Kellis, who on October 10th 1997, passed
away after a 26 year battle with cystic fibrosis.
are Shelley Statler, dear friend and Mike Walter, finance.
We are writing to let you know how much your precious moments figurines meant to Jamie and how
they touched her life.
First of all, I met Jamie in October of 1995. I had moved to Des Moines
to take a printing job. I worked with her mother and she was responsible for our meeting.
I fell in love with her shortly after I heard her story. Jamie had Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and had,
despite that had a very rewarding childhood with the absolute deepest, caring mother that the lord has to offer.
Jamie had been married previously that physically and mentally abused her for 2 years.
I fell for her immediately and decided to be the man that she deserved. A year later, I ran the
idea of marrying Jamie by her mother and she thinks it’s a good idea. I planned a trip to the precious moments chapel
where I wrote a poem asking her to marry me. I never took my eyes off the paper. As I neared the final words of “Will
you Marry Me?” the tears were rolling down my face. Thank god she said yes.
We spent 2 days touring your chapel. She wrote in one of your books. We both cried and were touched
by some of your stories.
Shelley and myself would like to ask you to dedicate a special precious moments to our lovely friend
Jamie Kellis.
If I were to try to explain the kind of person Jamie was, I could write a book, literally.
To sum it up, every moment that Jamie lived was a precious moment and she touched many lives with
her great strength and courage to get through any situation.
I called her River, based on the words to the song by Garth Brooks “The River”. She
was my dream. She had a very large collection of precious moments, around 50 of them.
We would be very grateful and it would be a very special way to remember Jamie.
She loved Corvettes and wanted so badly to own one but would only get one that she earned with
her own money.
She was a very private person and never wanted recognition for things she did for others. A friend
of hers on welfare was very special to her. She raised a child and went to college but could barely get by. Jamie would buy
a sack of groceries and set them by the door and leave them with no note attached. She did many things like that and will
always be remembered as a very unique person in this world.
Here is Shelley’s contribution:
I would like to tell a story from a friend’s perspective about the wonderful person that
I had known so well. S
he came and went from my life oh too soon.
Leaving behind her strength, caring, compassion, experience, love and understanding. Most of all,
pictures and memories.
I’m Shelley, a friend of Jamie’s telling a story of how she touched my life. Jamie
and I had met in junior high school but didn’t become friends until we were 22 years old. It seemed miraculous that
we had even became friends after the many years we would pass each other and not even acknowledge that we knew one another
other.
Jamie was a reserved person to people she didn’t know. Once you got into her heart
and mind, you truly never left.
For years we were inseparable through any and all situations and experiences. She got me through
a lot of hard times and always stood by my side. Jamie was the kind of person that chose to take the weight off the world
and everyone else’s problems and concerns, placing them on her shoulders along with her own fears and problems.
She wasn’t one to burden anyone else as she saw it, with her own hurt and problems. Normally
she wouldn’t tell anyone, she dealt with it on her own.
I have learned more from Jamie than I have learned from anyone. Her greatest gift was the gift
of Life. Every hour of every day was a special miracle in Jamie’s life. An hour to touch someone’s life, to give
a gift, to give a hug, to be around friends and family, always having a memorable time doing it.
Birthdays meant everything to Jamie. A big celebration with her friends and family every year.
Jamie passed away 5 days after her 26th birthday and 7 days before her wedding date with Mike.
A normal day for Jamie was to fit going to a movie, the mall and to all in 2 ˝ hours, figuratively
speaking.
Life for her was a dream and a tragedy at the same time.
Knowing from the beginning of her life that every minute and breath was valued from this disease
molded Jamie into the strong, wonderful person she is known for today.
Always knowing that she may only have today gave her all the wonderful tomorrows. In my lifetime,
I have never met such a loving, strong spirit. Wanting so much to touch each and every life that passed before her. Being
on this earth or in heaven I will always believe and know she will be my angel and every other person’s angel that she
loved.
To my special, loving friend who will always live in my heart, memories and thoughts. Thank you
so much for reading our story. What you stand for in life always touched Jamie’s life and she would be happy knowing
you knew her story at least a segment of it.
Shelley Guynn Statler
Michael Allen Walter
