Kelsey Rose Mills, our Beloved Daughter, has now begun her heavenly journey.  Her family and friends that have gone before her, are opening up their loving arms to stand by her through eternity, so she won’t be afraid.  Kels suffered a tragic accident on the night of October 26, 2019, being life-flighted from Martinsburg, WVA to INova Trauma Center in Fairfax, VA, where she spent six gruesome weeks in her unfathomable condition, fighting to stay alive.  She teetered on the edge of life and death, while under the constant care of specialists, surgeons, family and friends that continued a daily vigil at her side.  She struggled profusely, battling unforeseen physical obstacles and her damaged body finally gave up the fight.  As she gently slipped away on December 6, 2019, with all of her family joined at her side, we wished Our Girl a final Farewell.  Her lips pursed a gentle kiss and her eyes smiled.  My darling Kelsey, my baby girl, my survivor, who walked the earth in cold winters and blazing sun for six long years, was finally at the end of her journey.  She rode trains, slept under bridges, swam in rivers, slept in the woods traveling miles and miles on a never-ending adventure, touching so many lives along the way.  Her contagious laughter and unfiltered expressions, struck so many folks as a raw appreciation of life.  Kelsey was everyone’s ”friend-for-life,” meeting so many people and connecting everyone along her way,  as she traveled  the rails, hopping trains across the United States, hitch-hiking, catching rides, walking for miles on end and enjoying the freedom that she so cherished.  She was profoundly an Angel among us, and loved by so many who got the opportunity to share their stories with her, enjoy each other’s laughter, music and the art of survival on the road.  Kelsey had a widespread connection to so many people, in so many states, most of whom had so little, themselves.  The one thing Kelsey embraced wholly, was her love of life.  She lived how she wanted to live.  She created her own miracle, and that was, as she put it, freedom from ties that would bind her.  She didn’t “want” for furniture, dishes, cars, bank accounts or a roof over her head.  She was a Traveler, who made her way by her own choices.  She became a link to so many people who can only keep her memory in their hearts, now that she is gone from us.  Kelsey’s spirit is on the trains, on the roads, in the forests, in a dismal alley, on an embankment, under a bridge, on a highway, near the rivers, in a park or on a beach, wherever she found a new adventure, and sadly ended on a deserted gravel road in Martinsburg, West Virginia.  Her high-top canvas boots and tattered corduroy coat carried her on her last journey.  She had a good day, that day.  We will always see her where we met her or saw her last.  Now we keep those precious moments safe, in our hearts;  and cling to the moments when she touched us all and brought us laughter or tears, or joys that we will remember forever.  We don’t want to let her go, but now we must.  Please keep Kelsey’s memory safe in your hearts.   Her voice rings in my ears, “I lovey-dove-dove you, Mom.”  Rest in peace my sweet child.