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Her Life Was Love, Laughter

Family and friends remember a vibrant Raquel Carreras during a service for the teen who was killed in a car wreck.

Jay Nolan / Tampa Tribune

Friends gather outside Suncoast Cathedral in St. Petersburg after a viewing in memory of 14-year-old Raquel Carreras, who died last week in a car accident.

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By MIKE SALINERO | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 21, 2007

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ST. PETERSBURG -- Several hundred mourners gathered in a cavernous church Friday evening to celebrate a girl who danced in the rain, lit up a room and died too soon.

Raquel Carreras, killed in an auto accident one week ago, was remembered by family and friends as an eternally cheerful and energetic 14-year-old who made friends by the dozens and who will not be easily forgotten by them.

"She'd make it the funniest time you'd ever had," said longtime friend, 15-year-old Walter Lamerson. "She was always fun."

The body of the Northeast High School cheerleader lay in front of the altar at Suncoast Cathedral for two hours as hundreds of mourners, many teen-agers, passed in remembrance. Above the casket bordered by Care Bear balloons was a giant screen that showed slides of Raquel: as a round-faced toddler with wavy brown hair, sitting on a man's shoulders, lying on a woman's chest and in a playpen.

"She loved having her photo taken," said her aunt, Carolyn Postle.

Outside the sanctuary, teenagers, some wearing shirts and buttons with their friend's likeness, passed a table with boxes of Twinkies, Raquel's favorite treat. Lamerson said she liked them frozen.

A photo of the cheerleader, kneeling with fists on her hips, sat next to a pair of white Nike sneakers. A plaque summed up her memory: "Live well, laugh often, love much."

Raquel was one of five teen-agers in a car driven by a 15-year-old boy who only had a learner's permit. Police are still investigating the wreck that led to her death, but no charges have been filed.

The Rev. Tim Suddreth, speaking at the funeral that followed the visitation, said Raquel's friends will remember her as someone "small in frame but large in spirit."

"She was a friend to many and kind to everybody," Suddreth said. "She was deeply loved."

Postle, the girl's aunt, told the gathering that she had loved Raquel like a daughter since her birth.

Struggling at times to maintain her composure, Postle recounted a trip to Miami with her daughter,
Jennifer, Raquel and several other cousins. They were stuck in a traffic jam when Raquel insisted that she had to use the bathroom; she couldn't wait. Finally, the girls jumped out of the van and surrounded Raquel with sheets.

"Raquel was laughing so hard, she almost went to the bathroom right there," Postle said. "I finally got her back in the van."

The suddenness of Raquel's passing left some family and friends wishing they had had times to make amends before her death.

"She asked me to forgive her," said Raquel's 13-year-old sister, Ruthie. "I will never have a chance to tell her how much I forgive her in this world."

A weeping Ciara Speakman, 14, said Raquel would forgive anyone a mistake.

"She was the most bright and smiley person I ever met," Ciara said, "and I wish I could take back the bad things I said to her."

Jessica Fuller, 16, also expressed regrets at what she will never be able to tell her cousin. The two lived in the same neighborhood growing up but had always gone to different schools. This year they reunited at Northeast.

"I want to tell you that, as teenagers, we're not invincible … Take a moment to let people you love know it."

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