Remembering the ‘Five Little Girls’ one by one

That’s what we call them…the five little girls. This collective of beautiful children died last Thursday in a horrible house fire in the Butte. All around our community these children are referred to with great sadness and love. This article will try to tell their individual stories, in a feeble attempt to honor and remember each of them.

Frankly, each child is like none other and no description or narrative fully defines a complete child. It is difficult to talk about recently departed loved ones. And this tragedy is not a simple one. This writer extends heartfelt thanks to their Grandmother Susan Marie Secco, friends and family who took the time to sit down and share their precious stories.

Alexis Quakenbush, the oldest daughter, was just beginning her teenage world at age 12, when her life stopped. She was a Palmer Middle School 7th grader who loved art and cooking. Her best friend was a boy. She is described as being both intuitive and smart. As the eldest daughter, she was very motherly towards her younger sisters. In fact, she nurtured the whole family, which is not unusual with the oldest in the birth order. She loved to watch cooking shows and she wanted to be both a baker and a chef when she grew up. She was very communicative and verbal and left nothing unsaid. In fact, just weeks earlier, she had started a journal and in it she wrote she desired to become a writer. Alexis began to read at age four and had volunteered at the Palmer Pioneer Home since she was seven years old. She had a massive head of crazy dark hair on a very petite frame and she loved social media and talking in the glow of her favorite teal and purple colors. Some of her paintings of mountains survived the flames and have been retrieved. Alexis was mature for her age and is described as having an old soul.

Neveah Flores was age 8. Her name is heaven, spelled backwards. The very first thing the family mentioned was how passionate she was about both animals and the earth. Young Neveah was known to scold anyone who dared to litter or toss garbage. She was obsessed with horses and stuffed animals. She befriended a feral cat who had no use for humans; Scarlet, the feral cat grew to adore Neveah. Her family describes Neveah as a cute, hippie tom-girl, full of love and a personality full of passion.

Lillyanna Flores was known as the small firecracker in the family. She was compact and buff and a very solid little girl in 2nd grade at Butte Elementary school. Family says she was the perfect middle child and at age 7, totally mischievous. Along with her strength came great energy. She loved to eat french toast with powdered sugar on top and as many green beans as you could give her.

Sofia Flores was a sassy rockstar at 6 years old. She wore big tutu skirts and high heeled boots and any rhinestones she could get her hands on. She could sing and dance and applied lipstick with great abandon. She was referred to as Miss Prissy but she also loved to be a cuddle-bug. Friends from school and her family remembers her amazing agility and her long, long beautiful hair.

Jaelynn Flores was the baby of the family and she loved every second of it. Being the youngest of five sisters is a pretty safe place to be. She is remembered for her three-year old sweetness and the famous underwear scarf that she developed unwittingly which greatly amused the rest of the family.

Grandma Susan explains that she is no longer a grandmother. She switches between present tense and past tense constantly while describing her beautiful flock of granddaughters. Her grief is beyond description.

On Thursday the children were to be cremated, one by one. During each cremation the family will have music and prayers. They will be reunited in the end. And they will be remembered as a delightful group of sweet sisters, bound together by love laughter and joy.

A community vigil and memorial service for Alexis, Nevaeh, Lillyanna, Sofia and Jaelynn is planned for Saturday at the Palmer Train Depot.