DEATH TAUGHT HER STRENGTH : MOORPARK STAR GOES ON DESPITE LOSS OF MOTHER.Byline: Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff Writer When Elizabeth Christensen's mother died two years ago, her life didn't go into a tailspin tail·spin n. 1. The rapid descent of an aircraft in a steep, spiral spin. 2. Informal A loss of emotional control sometimes resulting in emotional collapse. . She stayed strong. Her grades didn't drop, and her soccer playing didn't suffer as she mourned and tried to go on with her life. Today, she is the leading scorer on her Moorpark High School Moorpark High School, located in Moorpark, California, is a public high school in the Moorpark Unified School District and currently has an enrollment of 2,478 students.[1] soccer team, which has won its first Frontier First Frontier is an original novel written by David A. McIntee and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Seventh Doctor, Ace and Bernice. League title. ``Things happen,'' she said. ``You have to make the best of To improve to the utmost; to use or dispose of to the greatest advantage. To reduce to the least possible inconvenience; as, to make the best of ill fortune or a bad bargain. - Bacon. See also: Best Best the day.'' Mary Christensen was Elizabeth's best friend. When Mary was down, the two went shopping. Mary also was one of her daughter's biggest fans. She often bragged about Elizabeth's on-field accomplishments. But she also had a difficult time watching for fear her daughter would get hurt, which happened. Elizabeth's physical style led to concussions and sprains. ``We've been to Los Robles Robles is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning oaks, and may refer to:
On Feb. 10, 1995, Mary died of heart failure. As Mike recalled, Elizabeth was out to dinner with friends. Mary came home late that night and said she felt faint. She went upstairs. Mike then heard her call his name. He found her lying on the floor next to the bed. Mike called 911 and tried to revive his wife. Between 10 and 15 minutes later, Elizabeth came home and found the ambulance crew working on her. All efforts to revive her failed. She died at age 41 with a heart that was missing a key artery. The family had a history of heart trouble. Elizabeth's heart has been checked and found not to be deformed de·formed adj. Distorted in form. . ``You have the perfect life, and the next day it's different,'' she said. ``I didn't have a mom.'' Almost immediately, Elizabeth decided to be strong. She said that's how she thinks her mother would have wanted it. She cried, but not much. With her father's help, life went on. ``She wouldn't want me to get bad grades . . . or treat my dad badly. She'd want me to go on and be happy,'' Elizabeth said. ``Being a cop (Ventura County sheriff's deputy), I've seen life isn't always fair,'' Mike Christensen said. ``I've seen people die who you wonder why they die, and you see people and wonder how they survive. If I could turn back time I would, but I was realistic. I knew we had to move on with life.'' Elizabeth said her mother's death made her stronger. She stayed away from school for a couple of weeks but got the assignments and kept up. Her soccer also didn't suffer. In a recent match with Calabasas, Elizabeth scored once and assisted once in the 3-0 victory. She also set up a goal by getting tackled in the penalty area. And she received a yellow card for dangerous play. Her 20 goals puts her among the area leaders. ``She realized mom's gone, and she threw herself back into academics and soccer with a passion,'' Moorpark coach Tom Humphreys said. ``I think that's how she dealt with it publicly.'' Nowadays, Mary Christensen is remembered regularly when Elizabeth and Mike reminisce rem·i·nisce intr.v. rem·i·nisced, rem·i·nisc·ing, rem·i·nisc·es To recollect and tell of past experiences or events. [Back-formation from reminiscence. . The refrigerator also is covered in pictures of the three. And the family has a dog, a black Labrador named Jackson. Elizabeth said her mother never would have allowed a dog because she was afraid it would wreck WRECK, mar. law. A wreck (called in law Latin, wreccum maris, and in law French, wrec de mer,) signifies such goods, as after a shipwreck, are cast upon land by the sea, and left there within some county, so as not to belong to the jurisdiction of the admiralty, but to the common law. the house. Mike is getting remarried Oct. 4, which pleases his daughter. And she's focusing on the coming Southern Section playoffs. Every once in awhile a·while adv. For a short time. Usage Note: Awhile, an adverb, is never preceded by a preposition such as for, but the two-word form a while may be preceded by a preposition. , she looks at the collage collage (kəläzh`, kō–) [Fr.,=pasting], technique in art consisting of cutting and pasting natural or manufactured materials to a painted or unpainted surface—hence, a work of art in this medium. and remembers the times she and mom had. ``I don't get sad every day,'' she said. ``I'm independent. I don't mind being on my own, especially the past two years. My friends are there, but I don't mind being by myself.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: Elizabeth Christensen Elizabeth Christensen (born 1978) is an American writer and author of novels based on the Stargate Atlantis television series, often collaborating with Sonny Whitelaw (See also Stargate literature). is the leading scorer on the Moorpark High School girl's soccer team, despite the death of her mother two years ago. Almost immediately after the loss, Elizabeth decided to be strong. She said that's how she thinks her mother would have wanted it. Jeremy Greene/Special to the Daily News |
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