Kara Hood

Message No. 6 of 8

Class Act

When I first attempted to write something for this web site I thought I wanted to have the best, funniest, most Kara story to tell. But I have soon come to learn that you cannot narrow all the Kara memories and stories in the world down to one. Kara is a class act!! and there are just too many amazing stories to pick from. I first got a real glimpse of what Kara and her family were all about on our freshman year spring break lacrosse trip. We were staying down in Hilton Head and enduring double sessions which resulted in a lot of very hungry girls. This became a scary reality when we ran through the money the athletic department allotted for us in I'd say,....about a day. Then one day after coming home to put our feet up & check to see what we could nibble on in the EMPTY refrigerator... a wonderful surprise knocked on our door. A man from the local grocery stores with bags and bags of fresh fruit & endless amount of food for our house to share. Kara just smiled and said " I told my Dad I was starving".....and so for the rest of the trip we were all stuffed to a brim and very happy needless to say. That isn't my first memory of Kara...but it is one of the most prominent because I felt that was the first time we as freshman were able to spend time together outside of the View or Tap. My memories of Kara go on and are unlimited......Dancing late night......the most amazing smile.....sweetest voice in the world.....lounging on Sundays accomplishing nothing. ( Except Kara of course ) One of my favorite stories of Kara that will always bring a smile to my face is when a few of us from Trinity climbed into a car at about 7:00am to go skiing in Stratton for the day. As we were all bundling up and getting dressed at the car someone happened to glance over at our Kara who not only dressed in typical ski patrol color but also had the right gear! She had one of those fanny packs wrapped around her waist and it was one of the funnier moments...I am sure it doesn't sound it. But watching Kara ski down the mountain as well as she does, and dressed to the nines was quite a site, thus she acquired the nickname of "ski Patrol". My respect and admiration of Kara grew immensely when she was one of the few seniors that was actually writing a thesis. No one would have guessed she was though, because she would just shut herself in her room and conquer all the work she had to do. No complaining, just doing. And don't ask me how.....but she still managed to be one of the last few crawling home to the 8th floor of High-rise after a great Trinity night out. She had the most amazing ability to work hard and play hard of anyone I have ever seen. Post Trinity memories are just as Kara-esque as always. Our first year out of College I lived with Sophie and Kristin all the way up at 95th and 3rd in NYC. Kara and a few others would come over for dinner and she would be driving from Brooklyn to get to our apartment. Vanessa would get on the phone....Give directions.....and 2 hours later Kara would finally knock on our door still managing a smile on her face or a funny grin. Than there was that amazing weekend the Hood's hosted for a bunch of us in Cazenovia. What a weekend that was!...water skiing....hot tub...great meals...and a perfectly generous host. I was driving in the car back to NYC with Kara after the weekend was over and all of us in the car were rehashing what a great time it was. Than there would be silence and Kara would remember something she had left or forgotten to do. We would manage to convince her that it wasn't a big deal and more silence, than another one would pop up. This continued well into the car ride and pretty soon it just came to the point of laughing whenever she would remember something. I think Vanessa and Kara managed to leave 2 weeks worth of clean laundry at the house. But Kara gave me one of the best weekends of my life and I will never forget that time we spent there. The night I got the phone call that Kara had passed away I truly did not believe it. In truth I think I didn't believe it even up till the point of her service and still at moments during my days now. My life will never be the same and I can hear those words in my head and just cannot shake them. But the one thing I will never shake and never let go of is Kara and who she was. Kara had the most amazing attitude for life .....she really knew how to live it and love it at the same time. She knew how to treat her family, her friends and even strangers. Kara is a role model for me and for many others. I miss her smile and her laugh and her reassuring words when something was amiss or I was sad about something. Bottom line is I just miss her. Kara is still so vivid in my mind and for that I am so grateful. Thank you to the Hood Family for putting this website together to help us all share. I think the writers get more out of sharing their thoughts sometimes than the readers. It just feels good to engulf yourself in Kara again even just for a few paragraphs at a time. Kara, I am thinking of you always and love you everyday. Missing you with all my heart, Whitney

Whitney Scarlett wscarlet@jcrew.com

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Class Act
	When I first attempted to write something for this web site I thought I wanted to have the best, funniest, most Kara story to tell. But I have soon come to learn that you cannot narrow all the Kara memories and stories in the world down to one. Kara is a class act!! and there are just too many amazing stories to pick from. I first got a real glimpse of what Kara and her family were all about on our freshman year spring break lacrosse trip. We were staying down in Hilton Head and enduring double sessions which resulted in a lot of very hungry girls. This became a scary reality when we ran through the money the athletic department allotted for us in I'd say,....about a day. Then one day after coming home to put our feet up & check to see what we could nibble on in the EMPTY refrigerator... a wonderful surprise knocked on our door. A man from the local grocery stores with bags and bags of fresh fruit & endless amount of food for our house to share. Kara just smiled and said " I told my Dad I was starving".....and so for the rest of the trip we were all stuffed to a brim and very happy needless to say. That isn't my first memory of Kara...but it is one of the most prominent because I felt that was the first time we as freshman were able to spend time together outside of the View or Tap. My memories of Kara go on and are unlimited......Dancing late night......the most amazing smile.....sweetest voice in the world.....lounging on Sundays accomplishing nothing. ( Except Kara of course ) One of my favorite stories of Kara that will always bring a smile to my face is when a few of us from Trinity climbed into a car at about 7:00am to go skiing in Stratton for the day. As we were all bundling up and getting dressed at the car someone happened to glance over at our Kara who not only dressed in typical ski patrol color but also had the right gear! She had one of those fanny packs wrapped around her waist and it was one of the funnier moments...I am sure it doesn't sound it. But watching Kara ski down the mountain as well as she does, and dressed to the nines was quite a site, thus she acquired the nickname of "ski Patrol". My respect and admiration of Kara grew immensely when she was one of the few seniors that was actually writing a thesis. No one would have guessed she was though, because she would just shut herself in her room and conquer all the work she had to do. No complaining, just doing. And don't ask me how.....but she still managed to be one of the last few crawling home to the 8th floor of High-rise after a great Trinity night out. She had the most amazing ability to work hard and play hard of anyone I have ever seen. Post Trinity memories are just as Kara-esque as always. Our first year out of College I lived with Sophie and Kristin all the way up at 95th and 3rd in NYC. Kara and a few others would come over for dinner and she would be driving from Brooklyn to get to our apartment. Vanessa would get on the phone....Give directions.....and 2 hours later Kara would finally knock on our door still managing a smile on her face or a funny grin. Than there was that amazing weekend the Hood's hosted for a bunch of us in Cazenovia. What a weekend that was!...water skiing....hot tub...great meals...and a perfectly generous host. I was driving in the car back to NYC with Kara after the weekend was over and all of us in the car were rehashing what a great time it was. Than there would be silence and Kara would remember something she had left or forgotten to do. We would manage to convince her that it wasn't a big deal and more silence, than another one would pop up. This continued well into the car ride and pretty soon it just came to the point of laughing whenever she would remember something. I think Vanessa and Kara managed to leave 2 weeks worth of clean laundry at the house. But Kara gave me one of the best weekends of my life and I will never forget that time we spent there. The night I got the phone call that Kara had passed away I truly did not believe it. In truth I think I didn't believe it even up till the point of her service and still at moments during my days now. My life will never be the same and I can hear those words in my head and just cannot shake them. But the one thing I will never shake and never let go of is Kara and who she was. Kara had the most amazing attitude for life .....she really knew how to live it and love it at the same time. She knew how to treat her family, her friends and even strangers. Kara is a role model for me and for many others. I miss her smile and her laugh and her reassuring words when something was amiss or I was sad about something. Bottom line is I just miss her. Kara is still so vivid in my mind and for that I am so grateful. Thank you to the Hood Family for putting this website together to help us all share. I think the writers get more out of sharing their thoughts sometimes than the readers. It just feels good to engulf yourself in Kara again even just for a few paragraphs at a time. Kara, I am thinking of you always and love you everyday. Missing you with all my heart, Whitney
	Whitney Scarlett wscarlet@jcrew.com