Desiree Valentin

The Gaumond family sends their deepest condolences we pray that God wraps his comforting arms around all family and friends during this difficult time John & Pauline

She was always was so positive and no matter how lost mad or wanted to give up she always made me feel better just to see her smiling face it instantly made me happy
She will always be the bright light for me no matter how dark it get I love you Desi and

I still can´t believe that you´re gone. I was so hopeful that I´d get to see you one last time before you had to leave. I needed one last hug from my Desi.

I have so many memories of you. We had the best childhood and were part of an inseparable group of friends. From sunup until sundown we were all always together. Skating every weekend, riding bikes to Albertsons, lagoon, camping, sleepovers on the trampoline, the fair, cabin trips, Vegas, haunted houses...So many good memories!

When we got older the memories continued...Sneaking out of my dad´s window with you parked in your truck down the street waiting for me. Skipping out on our CNA classes. Keeping me company when I worked the graveyard shift and got scared. So many concerts with you! Remember hoobastank downtown? Ha, what were we thinking liking them?!?! But oh so fun! Sitting in my car just listening to music, because what better place then in the car. And our favorite, summer hoodie weather!

You were my extrovert. I was always the shy quiet kid and needed someone outgoing to open up. You were that for me. I worried to the point of making myself sick and you´d bring me back down, always laughing telling me I was overreacting and making things into a bigger deal then they were, and I was.

You always had a way of making everyone feel special. Greetings from you were never Hi. Instead it was, Hey beautiful, Hi sexy lady, or Hello gorgeous! But never Hi.

One memory that stands out for me is this one:
We were in Junior High and there was a movie that had come out called The Craft. My god, we were obsessed! And I´ll be damned if we weren´t gonna be witches just like the movie. I had bought a how to book for witches, cause that´s the type of person I was. We planned to go up in the mountains to do some magic. Because witching requires Mountains. We went up to the centerville foothills and started a fire. Still not sure how we started a fire, we weren´t very savvy. You had a crush on Brett, and I won´t say who mine was (glad that never panned out). Anyway, we were going to do a spell that would tell us if they liked us back so we´d know if we should ask them to hang out. You were excited and just wanted to get going. I had my book and was so cautious saying we have to do this just right or we will be haunted by spirits forever. I was reading as we went while you were casting your magic. I was so scared about the whole thing and about being in the mountains, really we were probably 100 feet from someone´s backyard. You were laughing nonstop having the best time. I´d read a line and you´d do the steps. Well...nothing happened. We put out the fire and started walking back. As we were walking back, the fire restarted and was blazing! We looked at each other panic in our eyes, pale as ghosts and screamed. I don´t think we´ve ever run as fast. We darted back home without putting the fire out. I´m glad we didn´t light the mountain on fire. Once home you could not stop laughing and I was still shaking. I thought for sure we did something wrong and we were going to be haunted for the rest of our lives. I had this weird fear of a ghost touching my feet at night. We always talked daily and for a few weeks after that every time we talked we´d ask the other "did you get haunted last night, anything weird happen?" And you´d laugh and ask me if my feet got tickled in the night. I still remember once we got home from that you saying Well, I guess we´re not witches what else should we do.

That´s how you were. You treated life as an adventure and if something didn´t work out, it didn´t phase you. You were onto the next big adventure.

Looking back at my last message from you, you ended it with: Childhood friends for life, we´re practically family! I love you dearly. This is true, you were like a sister to me. I wish you didn´t have to leave us so soon. I love you and will miss you. Thank you for all the wonderful memories.