Abigail Sue Elder

Abigail (Abba, Abba Dabba), a dainty little thing with a not so little personality. She winked and giggled her way into our hearts with her mischievous quips and jabs. Then melted us with her massive marshmallow heart. She loved her sisters Riley and Jordan and her brother Jackson fiercely. Danger to anyone that may try to cross her siblings, and that included her parents. Loyal, so many people called her their best friend. Talented in piano, dance, archery and even a little drawing and painting in there. In all honesty there wasn't much she couldn't do if she put her determined and passionate mind to it. She was always thinking of others and put everyone's needs ahead of her own. She was headed to school in the spring to begin her path to becoming a Paramedic. We know she would have crushed it like everything else she went after. Such a joy to watch her grow into such a sweet young lady. To watch her with a fire in her belly for so many things. We are so heartbroken to lose her, but joyful knowing that she is with our Savior in heaven. We are glad to know she is at peace from whatever it was that made her feel it was time to go. We are sure gonna miss the laughter and joy she brought into all of our lives.

Eulogy from her Mother:

Abigail Sue

I have never written a eulogy. I never would have imagined I would be writing one for my little girl. I prayed and chose to just start writing. I prayed that God would give me the words. So here goes.

There is no way to write everything about her, she was just so extra. That is the only word I could come up with that sums it up. She was a daughter, little sister, big sister, best friend to so many & a goat mom. Artist, pianist, dancer, archer, jokester, prankster, actress 😊 and lover of Pocky. A giver. A giver of time, a listening ear and lots of hugs. Quick wit, a giant soft heart, a heart of a servant. Talented, driven, passionate about everything she had a mind to go after. We could never beat her scores on the Wii. She had every high score on Just dance and Rock band. We couldn’t even win a simple game of Clue. Smart, like scary smart. Like math for fun smart. I can still hear her singing the song from the Animaniacs about the states and capitols she memorized for a homeschool lesson. “Texas has Austin then we go North to Massachusetts Boston and Albany New York, Tallahassee Florida and Washington DC, Santa Fe New Mexico and Nashville Tennessee, Elvis used to hang out there ya know.”

When Abigail was born, we lived in a two bedroom 900 sq ft townhome in Gilbert, AZ. Her sister Jordan was 5 and her sister Riley was 2. To say we were running out of space was an understatement. We were blessed to buy a larger home shortly after and moved to Gold Canyon, AZ. Seven years later we were in a new home in Queen Creek. Then we took a risk and moved to Idaho. We have been back in AZ for a year now. We are here for a reason. We are so blessed to be around family. God knew what he was doing when he brought us home.

She was called many things. When we brought her home. Riley could not say her name, she called her Apple Girl. That stuck. She had many nicknames besides Apple Girl. Abby, Abba, Ab, Abba Dabba, Abbadoodle, Crabby Abby, Flappy Abby, Scabby, really anything that this family can rhyme with your name we will. Her papa called her Half Pint and I remember her nana calling her “The Aggravator” once. She was the epitome of a little sister. Pranks, like the one time she left an empty roll of toilet paper on the holder and wrote in sharpie “Early April Fools”. She was always taking little jabs, making jokes about everything and if you knew her you know she came up with some pretty clever ones. Though not her best work, one of my favorite things she did all the time was the “You’re a fill in the blank. For example at the store I’d say something like “I need to grab broccoli and under her breath she would say “You’re broccoli” Or “ This house is a mess” “ You’re a mess” followed by “JK” I’m on it”

But my absolute favorite was when she was in trouble or maybe not even trouble, just me calling out her Christian name ABIGAIL, she would reply in the same tone “Momigail”. Gonna miss that.

The quips and quirks started young. Even before 2yrs old she would wink. We would say Abba Wink and she would. Of course, since it made us laugh, she winked all the time. What u call me? was another Abba-centric thing. She was not even 2. You would just be talking, and she would whip her little head around, squint her eyes and say, “What you call me?” and then giggle at her own hilarity. I suppose it was our fault she was funny; we trained her early on how to get laughs.

When she was almost three, her and her sisters began dance classes. She was quite the performer. They took classes for about a year. It wasn’t until we moved to Idaho that she decided to take ballet. Just like everything else that girl tried, she nailed it. Being a little older than most girls when they begin ballet, she had to work so hard. That she did. She put everything she had into training. Before ya know it, she was up on her toes. She sure looked the part too. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her dancing. It always amazed me how this tiny dainty thing could be so graceful and elegant spinning around the stage and then the next day in dirty jeans laying in the pasture with her goat.

Oh, Zeus the pigmy goat was her pal. She loved that goat. When she got him as a baby, his momma had passed, and he needed to be bottle fed. He was so tiny. He slept in a pack & play in Abbas room. He hated being alone and would scream and cry constantly if she left the room or got quiet trying to sleep at night. Poor girl wasn’t getting any sleep. The genius that she is recorded her voice on her phone and put it on a loop. “It’s ok Zeusie, I’m right here. I’m not leaving you” Worked like a charm. She spoiled him and we are all still paying for it. Big baby.

Around the same time, she tackled ballet, she found more Anime. She loved Japanese and Korean culture and was even teaching herself to speak and write Korean & Japanese. Like I said. Scary smart. Along with these passions came cosplay and BTS. We all dove right into both. Sewing cosplay for anime cons, breaking the bank on wigs and costumes. Those are some very happy memories. So much creativity and fun. Oh, and BTS. If you don’t know what that is you’re missing out. They are a Korean boy band. She was a little girl obsessed. In turn we all started listening. I mean how could you not? Positive, clean, sweet or at least I think it was. It was 99.9% in Korean. Jungkook, V, Jimin, Suga, Jin, RM & J-Hope. If not for Abba, we would not know that J-Hope aka Jung Ho-Soek colabbed with Becky G and sang a song about chicken noodle soup or that V aka Kim Tae-hyung was born December 30th, 1995. I am not ashamed to say BTS is on my Spotify playlist.

She was a gamer girl too. I know next to nothing about games so I cannot speak too much on her accomplishments in that world, but what I can speak to is the impact other gamers had on her life. Hopefully if all went well, we are streaming this service on Discord to her friends across the world. She spoke about them all the time. Would stay up late at night just to interact with the friends in Australia or Norway, really all over. Some have reached out to me and expressed their condolences. Each one gushing about how much she impacted their lives with her sweet spirit. To those friends, I want you to know…. Same, same. Thank you for loving my sweet girl, thank you for the gifts you have sent over the years. Thank you for the smiles and laughter you put on her face. Thank you for understanding and valuing what a precious gift she was. I know you love her, and I can assure you. She loved you too.

Her siblings Jordan, Riley & Jack. She battled with them and defended them. When she was born. Jordan thought Abby was hers, not mine. Sweet memories of them loving each other. Funny memories of them being typical siblings. I think one of her favorite things to say when she was little was “Shut up Jordan”. No joke. Then there’s Riley, when Abba was around 5 she got in a tussle with Riley and there was a tiny scratch. Logically Abby calls 911 for that right? That was a fun day. All that said she would turn into Genghis Khan on you if you messed with any one of them. She was FIERCE. She defended her siblings even against her parents. If she felt we said anything crossways to them or gave an unfair punishment, oooo the fire that would come out of her. LOOK OUT. She was never afraid to share her opinion and argued it like a trial attorney.

Then came Jackson and suddenly she wasn’t really the little sister anymore. 9 years is a big gap between kiddos. He was her baby. She doted on that boy. She was his second mommy. Oh, the talking teddy bear. She was around 12. She cut open the back of a big stuffed bear and stuck a blue tooth speaker in there. Connected the blue tooth to an old cell phone and used google translate. The bear’s name was Taylor. She would sit the bear beside him and go in the other room. Wait for Jack to start talking to the bear and then type a response hit play and it would come through the speaker. Jack was thoroughly convinced he had a best bear friend named Taylor. She would spend hours doing it, just for Jack. Abba was his very best friend. Like I mentioned, she was a giver, always watching others, noticing things, and then taking action. She was the MOST. Pray for my children. The passing of our sweet Abbadoodle has left a gaping hole in our lives.

AbbaDabba had a bright future ahead of her. She worked at TJ Maxx for a bit and spent most of her checks on clothes and gifts for others. She then began working at Humbolt Elementary cleaning. She enjoyed the kids, not so much the teachers. There she got serious. She had saved enough for tuition and had registered for school in the spring. She was on the path to becoming a Paramedic. That’s Apple girl for ya, so fitting for such a compassionate young lady. She had also started saving for a motorcycle. Ya, that’s what I said. A motorcycle. She was always showing us pictures of Ninjas. She was so close. To have accomplished so much and to have touched so many lives in the short time she was here, can you just imagine the beautiful things she would have done for this world?

If you were blessed enough to know the magnificent human being that was my little girl. Thank God. Thank God every day that you were graced with her presence.

Ab did not get to experience the fullness of the life God gave her here on earth. She didn’t’ get the chance to have her ears pierced. Never got to even go on a date with a cute boy. She hadn’t traveled or gotten to ride her motorcycle. She will never know the immense joy and unbearable pain that comes with being a mom. What she does get to experience before all of us is the everlasting comfort, joy, peace and Love of Jesus.

I pray for peace for my family. I pray we don’t lose one more person too soon. I pray for everyone here that they know the Love and peace of Jesus Christ.

I pray she knows her precious value now.