When Rebecca Townsend, 17, was a high school sophomore, she composed a short list of things she wanted to do before she died: 1. Go to Spain...
When Rebecca Townsend, 17, was a high school sophomore, she composed a short list of things she wanted to do before she died: 1. Go to Spain; 2. Kiss in the rain; 3. Save a life.
She had already completed the first two goals by the time she graduated from her Brookfield, Connecticut, school this year, with plans of attending the University of Notre Dame in the fall. But before she could go away to college, Woman's Day reports, Rebecca fulfilled the final goal on her list, pushing her friend out of the path of an oncoming car, before being hit and killed herself.
When Rebecca was a sophomore in December of 2012, she completed a school assignment to write a letter to her future self, which included a three-point bucket list.
Over the course of her high school career, she had checked off the first two items. Her parents had taken her on a trip to Spain, and she had met a 'cute boyfriend' named Niko whom she could kiss in the rain.
Upon graduation, Rebecca’s bucket list letter was returned to her - and it is thought that she had been reading it when she left it out on her bed on July 2.
That night, she went to watch fireworks in a nearby town. Around 9pm, when the show was over, she was crossing the street with her friend Benjamin when a car drove toward them. Rebecca pushed Benjamin - who sustained serious injuries but is in stable condition - out of the way. Sadly, she was struck by the car and died, just as she had fulfilled the final item on her list. Police are still investigating the incident.
It's not surprising to her friends and family that she would do somethng so selfless. Her cousin Rachel Hofstetter wrote in a Facebook post that she was 'full of sass and life', and nothed that she had a reputation for doing charitable work.
Rebecca was the founder of her high school's chapter of She’s the First, a nonprofit that sponsors education for girls in developing countries. She also volunteered for the educational program Head Start.
'This story could be about loss, but vibrant and happy Rebecca would prefer it be about love,' her cousin Rachel wrote. 'So take a moment and hug the person you don't always hug, and then do it again. And then say "I love you" to the person you don't usually tell, and then say it again. Because we are many, many days over 17, and each day we get a chance to say "I love you" to the ones we love is a blessing.'
On a page memorializing the teen, her family have encouraged others to keep her 'spirit alive' by being kind to others, whether by volunteering or donating to a cause - 'just as Rebecca strived to do'.
They've asked others to share photos and stories of themselves 'paying it forward' with the hashtag #RememberingRebecca, and many have complied. One woman wrote that she would be donating her bone marrow in memory of Rebecca, while another said she paid for the Starbucks order of the car behind her in the drive-thru.
Meanwhile, the late teenager's family is taking solace in the fact that she did what she had set out to do in life.
'Who knows why Rebecca was looking at that letter the night she left us,' her older sister Monica said during a eulogy, which she later posted online. 'But I think it’s her little way of telling us she is OK; she accomplished what she needed to; she made it.'
