I met Tessa when we first began college at JHU and were in the same intro to fiction and poetry writing class. That class was very hard for me because on one hand, I knew already that I wanted to be an author, but on the other hand, it was the first time that I was ever receiving critical feedback on my writing. Tessa and I connected that fall because of her kindness towards me and her generosity when it came to critiquing my writing and the writing of others in our class. Her comments were always helpful but distinctly kind—that was her way. Tessa was a very talented writer herself, and it was always a joy to read her stories. Her tales were filled with meaningful scenes, interesting characters and I remember how much humanity she gave them. She saw the humanity in everyone she met. Everyone on this Earth had a story to her. I’ll always remember one afternoon, two years later, I saw her walking on campus and she came up to me and we started catching up. We had become good friends at that point. She said to me that she felt blessed to have me as a friend. I told her how I felt the same way about her, how I was so lucky. I still feel lucky. I feel lucky that she was in my life and I feel lucky that we people on this Earth got to have her for 28 years though I wish it was longer. I know Tessa is now in heaven, sitting with God and still seeing the humanity in everyone. I send my deepest condolences to her family who I know she adored and her friends who are lucky like I am. I love you, Tessa and thank you for everything.
