On Sept. 23, 2011, sophomore Hannah Karr lost her best friend.

Karr, an undecided sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, designed a tattoo to commemorate her friend from summer camp, Kelsey Lynne Kramer. Both Karr and another one of her friends from camp got the tattoo for Kramer.

“The tattoo is an infinity sign with Kelsey’s initials, because she will forever be my best friend and she’ll live on through me,” Karr said. “It’s on the upper side of my torso, on the side closest to my heart.”

Below the infinity sign is Kramer’s birthday written in Roman numerals.

Karr had been best friends with Kramer and four other girls from camp since they were 4 years old. Since they were all from different suburbs of Philadelphia and rarely saw each other during the school year, they looked forward to reuniting at sleep-away camp in Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.

One afternoon, Kramer went out to the store to buy nail polish — a simple errand. But on the way there, she got in an accident and her car was found upright against a tree. She was airlifted to the hospital, where she was on life support and died shortly after. To this day, nobody is quite sure what caused the accident.

Throughout high school, Karr and her camp friends had begun to lose touch. However, after Kramer’s death, Karr and her camp friends reunited.

“I appreciate that my friends have stood by me, just like I stood by them during her death. After she died, we all became closer. We all made more of an effort to see each other,” Karr said.

Karr remembers Kramer for her wit and cleverness. Kramer also played soccer and was a great swimmer, known for holding her breath in the pool for long periods of time. After her death, Kramer’s high school varsity soccer team retired her number.

“She was really smart and she cursed like a sailor,” Karr said. “She was honestly just a fun, free-loving person.”

Karr’s tattoo is a simple tribute to a life that ended much too soon.

Said Karr: “This tattoo makes me closer to her and she’ll always be with me.”

Published on August 26, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Gigi: gantonel@syr.edu