Remembering Victoria Hope

Today's Toast

I remember countless evenings on the stage at Shelton High School, days goofing around in the back row of algebra II, mornings sneaking off to Dunkin Donuts before school.

I remember one particularly cold night when we drove around Shelton, heat blasting, hot chocolate in hand, on a quest for the most awesome Christmas light displays.

In June 2001 we marched onto the high school field with the rest of our class and said good-bye to childhood. After high school we lost touch; I didn’t see Tori again until I moved back to Connecticut after college graduation.

In recent years I saw her, it seemed, everywhere — at Shelton Day, Target, Stop & Shop — and we would reminisce about the simplicity of the adolescent days gone by. I shared her joy when I met her two beautiful children.

My memories of Tori are all good ones. Maybe it was her laugh, or her verve for life, but she left a lasting impression on me and so many others.