Coupeville Sports

   Stacie Farmer, during her days as a softball slugger. (Photos courtesy Farmer family)

Farm Dog, on top of the world.

Stacie Farmer turns 29 today.

And yes, I am aware that, in one sense, she has been gone for five years. In another sense, however, she never left us.

A tragic accident damaged her body, but Farm Dog held on long enough for her family to reach her side before she departed the physical earth 24 years to the day she first entered it.

Sept. 15, 1986 – Sept. 15, 2010.

Not long enough at all, and yet she did so much, accomplished so much, brought so much joy to those she loved, or those she met just for a moment, that she filled every one of her days to bursting.

In the five years since her passing, Stacie’s life has lived on, through her words and those of all who knew her.

Her Facebook page, left open by her family, has become a place for people to remember the young woman who bounced through life, dreadlocks swinging, transcendent smile touching every part of the horizon.

From her days as a softball slugger at Coupeville High School to the moments when she and her friends hung out at Miriam’s Espresso and Videoville — where I most frequently came into contact with her — to her times exploring the world, her open heart reaching out to touch all she encountered, Stacie was like no other.

She wasn’t perfect. No one is. But she made a solid run at it.

Stacie strode through life, unafraid, always up to a challenge, always looking for the good in others.

In the mountains, on the river, wherever she was found, Farm Dog was the one who reached out to others, brought others into her world.

She was only here for 24 years, but she spent her time well.

Each of us who had a chance to know Stacie have kept her memory alive in some way, through stories, through tears, through memories.

With Coupeville Sports, I have a small, but unique, way to make sure her name, her memory, her spirit, never fades.

Here on this blog we have a Hall o’ Fame (it’s at the top of the blog under the Legends tab), dedicated to the best that Coupeville has produced. Normally the induction ceremonies, twelve so far, happen each Sunday.

Today, on a day that has so much significance, I want to induct Stacie alone, for she was always in a class by herself.

For her days on the diamond, yes, but more, for her life and the way she chose to live it.

It is not much, admittedly, but it is at least a small way in which I can make sure she is always with us, is always remembered.

When someone goes through the list of honorees and asks “Who was Stacie Farmer? Why is she in your Hall?” it will keep the conversation alive. It will give us another chance to make sure her flame never flickers.

As it should be.

On this day, and every day, we say “Goodnight, Stacie.” Never “Goodbye Stacie.”