Benches for Molly
Molly Wrede was a student at Paideia from Half Day until 2017. Molly died the day after she finished her Freshmen year in a plane crash on a trip with a dear classmate. Below is the dedication story written by another classmate, Alondra, about these benches and what Molly meant to all of her lifelong friends and the class of 2020.
by Alondra Romero
(originally printed in the The Forum – Senior Edition 2020)
In the midst of celebrating the end of an era and preparing for a future beyond the wiggle wall and Monday Morning Meetings, I, like so many of us, am painfully aware of Molly Wrede’s absence.
Although she is not physically with us, Molly will always have a place in our 2020 graduating class for she touched each one of us uniquely with her contagious laughter and jubilant energy. She embodied the kind spirit that is Paideia.
I will continue to remember Molly not through her absence, but through the way I remember her filling each room she entered with an excitement that put smiles on everyone else’s faces. I will remember the way she lived a life of color and how with that life she painted everyone else’s just a bit brighter. In honor of the legacy of giggles, impromptu dance parties, and so much more that Molly left the Paideia community, we chose to dedicate our senior class gift to her.
We asked students and faculty, some of whom knew Molly their whole life and others who were only more recently touched by her, to share their memories of her in drawings. We compiled these drawings together and are having each one engraved into painted metal benches. Through these benches we can together, as a community, remember the little moments that Molly gave us.
Students remember her sharing her skittles in the hall or cooking pasta with her, never with any seasoning, just white pasta with butter. And, of course, her obsession over Taylor swift! From “Love Story” to “Forever and Always,” Molly knew the words, had a dance, and belted out unlike any other Taylor fan (and I’ve known many).
Organizing all these moments, I understood, that in the end we are all just the memories we create. We will continue to live, not in our achievements or successes, but in the way we impact those around us. Looking at the memories students shared, I recognized that Molly really did and continues to, through our memories of her, spread her spirit of kindness and positivity. So let us learn from Molly, that in the face of uncertainty, the best thing, really the only thing we can do, is laugh and love and to hold on to the people we can’t tell our stories without.
Please look over these benches with joy. Joy at what Molly’s friends saw in her and how they wished to remember her through these drawings.
Below are some pictures of Molly through the years on the Paideia campus, participating on Paideia sports and just goofing with her friends. If you have any pictures you would like to add of Molly, you can upload them through the comments section. Feel free to leave a comment, as well.
