Kelly-Anne Drummond was born on November 28, 1979, in Montreal. She was the first child born to her parents, Doreen and John Drummond. Kelly-Anne had her parents all to herself for exactly 11 months. On October 28, 1980, Doreen gave birth to a second daughter, Kim.
These two precious girls were the apple of their parents eye. They were sweet but spunky and full of life. Both girls had lovely dark eyes and beautiful brown hair. Kell's hair was, even from childhood, unbelievably curly.
The Drummond family enjoyed a happy, peaceful life on Montreal's West Island. Eventually, they moved to Pierrefonds, within walking distance of Greendale Elementary school where both girls would attend. The community that developed on their street was a source of great inspiration to all. The neighboors frequently got together for all sorts of parties and events. The older families on thre street--including ones where the children were all grown up--took the younger ones under their wing and served as surrogate grandparents.
Kelly-Anne had lots of friends and kept busy will all manner of activities. She swam, dove, and did synchronized swimming. She played waterpolo, basketball, and rugby. She became a lifeguard and spent her summers overseeing local swimming pools and teaching lessons. Kell couldn't get enough of her summers as a lifeguard.
After graduating from Greendale, Kelly-Anne moved on to John Rennie High School. She continued to keep up with her sporting activities and took joy in her studies. Kell participated fully in high school life. Everyone--from the students, to the teachers, to the support staff, to the administration--loved her. She always had a smile on her face and her joy was infectious. Kelly-Anne also refused to be limited. She always believed in herself and believed she could do anything under the sun. It was an admirable trait.
After high school, Kelly-Anne moved on to John Abbott College, where she joined the rugby team and began to study communications. She loved the freedom and flexibility of CEGEP and continued to keep busy with school, work, sports activities, and, of course, fun with her friends.
After graduating, Kell was accepted to Concordia University to begin her bachelor's degree. Of course, she joined the rugby team right away! At Concordia, Kell plotted her coursework in such a way to take as many classes for her personal interest as possible. Her major was in communication studies, but she also took classes in geology, history, geography, and other fields.
Kell always dreamed of seeing the world, so it was no surprise that when she wrapped up her degree she moved down to San Diego to live and work. She had a great apartment with friends right near the beach and she was able to train for her lifeguarding competitions in the open ocean. Kell loved the experience of living abroad. She met lots of new people and enjoyed the adventure tremendously. When the time came for her to return to Montreal, she was a little sad to leave her ocean adventure behind. But she also missed the allure of her family, friends, and hometown.
Once she was back home, Kelly-Anne began the search for a job in her field in earnest. She wanted to work in television or radio as a producer. She interviewed all over the place, but had difficulty landing something in such a strange, competitive field. Kell had no problem "paying her dues," so she found a job to pay the bills and spent her free time and creative energy building her portfolio.
Eventually, Kelly-Anne was hired to be a teacher at L'Academy Marie Claire on the West Island. Teaching wasn't Kelly-Anne's major passion in life, but she was good at it and the parents and kids both loved her creativity and zeal for life. In the meantime, Kelly-Anne kept working towards her goal of a job in the communications industry. She also kept very busy with sporting activites and training for the lifeguarding competitions she was so fond of.
In September 2004, Kelly-Anne flew to Italy to participate with the Quebec team in the World Lifeguarding Championships in Viareggio, Italy. She had a wonderful time. But Kell was also conflicted about her boyfriend, Marty. Despite having just moved into an apartment together, things were not working out between them. She was having serious doubts about this relationship and confided in a friend that it had turned violent on more than one occaision.
Kell returned from Italy at the end of the month determined to make the best of her situation. She brought back wonderful gifts for family and friends and had a great dinner at her father's place to celebrate her achievements in Iraly. She told close friends that she and Marty were breaking up, but they were going to "handle it like adults" and he was looking for a job in Toronto. She planned to get a roomate after he moved out.
Sadly, the situation turned violent and deadly. On October 3, 2004, after cooking a dinner of pork chops and Lipton Sidekick Noodles for herself, Kelly-Anne was attacked by her boyfriend. Her injuries were fatal and she never regained consciousness.
