Kimberly Ann Perez

I wanted to honor Kimberly by sharing memories of her. So, I asked both sides of her family to send me a few of their memories. My thanks to everyone who contributed and I hope I do your memories justice.

Love. What a very loving person Kimberly was and the things she loved were recurring themes in everyone's memories. So were her exceptional relationships with the special people in her life. Here are a few examples:

• Kimberly had a very close relationship with both her parents but had an especially close bond with Cynthia, who was not only her mother, but her protector, her defender, her translator and her constant companion. A prime example is that it was hard for Kimberly to explain herself and sometimes her frustration would show, but Cynthia would always be the one to know what Kimberly wanted or needed when others were stumped.

• Kimmie loved to have Grandma Tillie come over every week to visit and say her prayers with her and to receive her allowance for doing her chores. It was their special time together.

• She loved Aunt Becky and always reminisced about the time she spent with Aunt Becky when she was a girl and Becky watched her while Frank was going to college. Aunt Becky said "Kimmie was my angel. Whenever she was with me, she was on her best behavior. She never gave me a bit of trouble. Our relationship was pure love."

• Grandma Grace and Aunt Gloria also spent special time with Kimmie but especially when she was older while they helped watch her.

Her family was special to her and Kimberly gave almost everyone a sign or nickname to reminisce about them or ask for them. A few that I know of are:

• Aunt Becky was a knock on a door because she loved to go over to Aunt Becky's house and be doted upon

• Aunt Sally was "egg salad"

• Cousin Tony's sign was hitting her head because he always got in trouble as a little boy which made her laugh

• "Bobbies", or "babies", is what she called her younger cousins Aaron, Gabriel and Denise. Up to the end, she would still refer to Aaron as “bobbie” even though he was no longer one. He would forever be the “baby” to Kimmie.

• -Uncle David's sign was using both her hands in the air and wave like a little bird. He said that even in her last days, she still had the energy to give him one more "Uncle David sign" acknowledging that he was there to visit her. He said he'd never forget it and Aunt Lenore remembers Kimberly "as a loving and beautiful girl".

Kimmie loved seeing all of her family and was happy when there were gatherings. Her favorites were birthday parties because she enjoyed blowing out candles on her birthday cake and even blowing them out for someone else if they weren’t fast enough for her liking.

Christmas was another favorite time. She always enjoyed Christmas gifts... especially all things Disney, which probably came from the fun trips to Disneyland that Kim, my sister Chris and I took together.

Pool parties in her back yard were another favorite. She enjoyed eating food on the patio table, would drink her favorite drink, ice tea in her hug cup, and watch everyone in the pool. When she was able to go in the pool, she would put on the white lifesaving buoys around her arms and enjoy her cousins Mikey, Cori and Aaron splashing, swimming and playing games in the pool. Sometimes when Kimmie got upset or was frustrated, Cynthia would have to threaten to send everyone home, especially the “baby” (otherwise known as Aaron to you and me). That threat usually got her to comply.

Anytime she had visitors or went somewhere, she would be "all done up". She always wanted to pick out her own clothes and dressed up her outfits with some type of sparkly jewelry: bracelets, necklaces, rings or hair accessories. Kim was quite the fashionista.

Kimmie had many favorite things to do and these are a few that stood out in her family's memories:

She loved her private room (otherwise known as "the den") with all her favorite toys and baby dolls surrounding her where she watched her favorite television shows (Kate and Ally, Sesame Street, and Hollywood squares), and her favorite channels (NBC and Antenna TV). How she would laugh when her favorite character would get in trouble! Kim was such a loyal viewer, she did nightly typing to NBC Channel 4 which she put into business reply envelopes and her mom would mail for her.

Kim had a big crush on Michael Landon because she loved to watch Little House on the Prairie over and over. I heard Aunt Cynthia even got her an autographed photo of Michael Landon one year.

When she was younger, Kimmie enjoyed playing music and talking on her little radio with a microphone attached She also loved to go on the swings at school. So, her mom and dad built her an excellent swing at home and Aunt Gloria has great memories of pushing Kimmie on that swing.

Kimberly had a sense of humor and it showed when she would sometimes wear the crazy eyeglasses her daddy Frank bought and they would take turns wearing. Also, she liked to tease Aunt Gloria when she acted like she was going to sit on the coffee table.

Outings were treats that Kimmie enjoyed. A few that come to mind are slurpee rides, Bob's Big Boy and Canoga Bowl Coffee Shop.

After doctor appointments, Cynthia and Aunt Virgie would drive Kim to the Canoga Bowl Coffee Shop for Lunch. After eating, Kimmie liked watching everyone bowl, especially the kids. Of course, after a little while, they couldn't go by the Canoga Bowl without Kimmie wanting to stop to eat and watch the bowling. She loved that. Virgie said, "I'm never going to be able to go by there without thinking about our lunches and her smile when she talked about it. I'm going to miss that but I know I'll smile when I go by thinking about her smile & how she loved going there."

One of the funniest story I received was from her Cousin Scott. Scott was maybe 7 or 8 years old and Kim was a year older. Grandma Grace was babysitting both of them. They were in the den at Grandma Grace's house watching TV and Scott went to the cookie jar and got a couple of cookies for both of them. It was the jackpot because they were chocolate chip instead of other kinds she usually had. Kimmie kept saying, "more more"; so, Scott, being the good cousin he was, went back for more. Well, Kimmie kept saying more and Scott told her no more but she got mad. Scott didn't want her to yell for fear that grandma would come. So, he obliged by going back, several times.

Grandma eventually came into the den and saw that Kimmie was covered in chocolate around her mouth and crumbs everywhere. Grandma asked, "Who got into the cookie jar?" Obviously Kimmie couldn't have done it, but of course, Scott pointed at her. Grandma, who is now laughing, asks Scott to get a paper towel for Kimmie and when he gets back, she makes him wipe off his face and low and behold, it is covered in chocolate! Turns out, he had more cookies than Kimmie!

But wait; there's more to the story. About two years later, the same scenario happens only this time grandma walks in and Scott is cleaning up Kimmie's face trying to hide the evidence. She asked, "What are you doing?" Scott didn't answer. Grandma repeats her question, "What are you doing?" He answered, "Cleaning her face cuz she wanted cookies." Scott got lucky because grandma laughed again and said, "No more!" If only Kimmie had said that!

My parting memory. When Kimberly wanted things to be normal again in her little world, she wouldn’t be afraid to let us all know. If her mom stayed on the phone too long, you could hear her yell “bye” in the background. When she was finished visiting, she would tell us “all done” when she wanted her company to go home.

Jackie Rodriguez said it best when she wrote, "We’ll forever remember her fair complexion, freckles and child-like face. We’ll remember Kimberly for being very present in both Cynthia’s and Frank’s life. Kimberly is now a free, kind and sweet soul who’s been greeted by her father and both her grandmothers in heaven."

Kimberly, we love you.

Bye, All Done.