Sept. 30, 1989 - July 19, 1998

Christin Rochelle Lamb was born in Powell, Wyoming. Despite a detour in Illinois before she was two and a recent move to Laramie, Powell was Christin's hometown.

Chris made friends at Northwest College (NWC) Child Care Center while her parents attended school. Among them were many adults: the daycare teachers, workstudy students, professors, and parents. A special memory is of Chris dressed as an elf for the Christmas program. She was so tiny that the outfit seemed appropriate. However, she sang the songs as well as kids almost twice her size, smiling the whole time.

Chris was a teacher's helper during her year at Absaroka Headstart. She knew numbers, letters, and many other things before she went to school, but she never acted impatient with the other kids. Instead, she channeled her energy to other projects, like selling a record number of raffle tickets to raise necessary funding for the program. Of course, this was thanks to those many friends at NWC, who came to regard Chris as outgoing and friendly, despite her asking for donations.

Chris began kindergarten at Westside, with Diane Hensman as her teacher. One favorite memory was of the valentine party. As Chris opened her sack of cards, she came across one addressed to "Christin," the only one so labeled in the whole bag. "It must be from Mr. Walker." He was the only one in the school who did not yet know her well enough to know she preferred "Chris."

This anonymity changed shortly thereafter, when Chris became one of only two kindergarten kids to test on the Accelerated Reader program. Before the end of the year, she was testing on books at a second grade reading level. Nobody is sure how all this happened since Chris just started reading one day without any real effort.

Chris won a Young Authors award for a book she wrote that year about her teddy bear. Although awards and recognition were already becoming common for her, she cherished the book because it had been fun to do, and because she saw it made other people happy.

That summer, Chris welcomed a new sister, Kyrie. She always had time to read a story, and she seemed to have an instinct for taking care of a little one's needs. Kyrie even missed Chris each day as school rolled back around.

When Chris started first grade with Vicki Coy, she was eager to learn everything. Nothing seemed difficult, but all was worthy to be explored. Chris especially enjoyed theme units which allowed her to do extra research. She soon found that she could spend time working on Accelerated Reader, so she had her project for the year. Chris eventually made 150 points for reading over 250 books, and the reading level had jumped to fourth grade material.

Chris also had fun with Young Authors that year. She won an award for her book, Zaggy the Frog, and another for illustrating her sister Jessica's poetry book. In fact, Chris made many books that year, and they are now a treasured reminder of her artistic and verbal abilities.

In early October a friend invited Chris to join AWANAs, a Christian children's organization. In "Sparks," Chris used her exceptional reading skills and unbelievable memory to complete not only the first year book, but also the second and its review work, because that's the one other kids her age were on. They awarded points for verses learned, and let the kids shop each week. A favorite memory is of Chris standing back, with about twenty points for the day, waiting for the other kids to shop first. Even when she had spotted a special necklace she really wanted, she waited her turn.

When the family moved to Laramie during the summer before second grade, Chris was sad to be leaving friends and family behind. She loved tagging along on 4-H fossil trips and had made new friends during her first year of Brownie Girl Scouts. She was worried that she wouldn't be able to continue with all the activities she loved. She soon discovered that she needn't have worried. Christin, as she chose to be called in her new home, quickly made friends and settled into most of the same programs.

Spring Creek teacher Sue Demaree helped. However, without the Accelerated Reader program as a guide to which literature to choose, Christin's interests blossomed. She directed her reading efforts at science, world geography, and C. S. Lewis. Christin was soon working her way through The Chronicles of Narnia series, written at least on a junior high reading level.

Christin also added 4-H to her list, since she was "finally" old enough at 8 to join. Despite recommendations that first year kids only take 1 or 2 projects, Christin happily finished 7 that year. Her favorites included geology, which she had been working up to for years, and citizenship, where she created a display about her missionary cousins in Belgium. She also did well on visual arts and her sewing projects. A pretty dress she never got to wear received a division award at State Fair.

Christin continued AWANAs, where she finished her third book, its review work, and then went back to do the review work for the first book. Despite an 18 month gap since she had seen the verses, Christin finished the entire review in about four sessions. She then completed the third workbook in less than three sessions. Christin was happiest with this accomplishment because it proved she "really knew the important stuff."

When Christin and the family visited in Powell during the summer, she attended church camps, Vacation Bible School, and Sunday School at every opportunity. She usually managed to invite at least one other child along, often younger girls with little or no Bible background.

The night before Christin was killed, her example brought another child to Christ. That very morning, she brought a young friend to Sunday School. It is said she was targeted because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, inviting the same little girl to another church activity. It's hard to see how that was so wrong.