Speech at Dedication of Jessie Bullens-Crewe Building
Breakwater School
November 2, 1997
By Max Milliken

I would like to begin by thanking Cindy and Dan for choosing me to speak today. Ever since I finished giving my graduation speech, I have regretted not saying anything about Jessie in it—because she touched and affected me in so many ways. This gives me a chance to share my feelings about this wonderful girl.

When I came to Breakwater in Second Grade, one of the first people I made friends with was Jessie Bullens?Crewe. From then up to Fifth Grade, Jessie remained a very good friend of mine.

As we became better friends, I learned more about Jessie. She loved animals—especially cows, whales and raccoons. She also loved all dairy products—especially cheese.

Jessie was also athletic. She could kick a soccer ball farther than anybody else in the school. She had a lot of imagination, which showed very clearly when she played a game with me and my other friends called "The Adventures"—in which we would run around with imaginary guns shooting imaginary creatures.

Jessie was very enthusiastic about everything she did and put everything into it, whether it was in the classroom or on the playground.

I can remember when she did her first research paper in Third Grade on jackals. She was so amazed that they could bite through an elephant bone. She announced this at the end of recess and made sure that everybody in the school knew this amazing fact.

Another way that I got to know Jessie well was through a car pool we started the beginning of Fourth Grade. Every morning driving to school we would listen to National Public Radio. I can still remember that Jessie had the listings of the stations memorized. She would recite these as they came on the radio "These are the listener supported stations of Maine Public Radio, WMEA Portland 90.1 WMEH Bangor 90.9", and so on.

As Fifth Grade approached we had a lot of expectations. There was a trip to Quebec, our Fifth Grade sleepover, and other things I had heard about since I first came to the school. Unfortunately, Jessie wasn't able to experience any of these because of her fragile condition. The year started just as I had expected, but in October Jessie didn't seem herself. She was abnormally tired and not as active as usual. It was obvious that something was wrong.

In early December, this was confirmed. Jessie found out she had Hodgkin's Disease, a kind of cancer.

Cancer in itself is a pretty scary word, but since nobody knew what Hodgkin's Disease was, it made it even scarier. After visiting Jessie in the hospital, though, and hearing good reports of her chemotherapy, it appeared that she would be just fine.

She was still herself anyway... which was obvious when she shaved her head into a Mohawk with a peace sign on one side and a yin?yang on the other.

None of her personality had disappeared, only some of her strength.

As the winter progressed, Jessie seemed to get better and better. But in the beginning of March, we found out that the cancer was still growing in her body, it just hadn't affected her yet. Soon it was apparent, and Jessie was rushed back to the hospital.

The morning we found out Jessie was going to die was like any other Friday. We were brought into our classroom and were told of Jessie's condition. We spent the rest of the day talking about Jessie and what she had been like, which made it a lot easier to cope with her dying.

On Saturday, we got a call that Jessie had died—at four in the morning, after she had been taken off her respirator. Although this was tragic and sad, and was very hard to deal with, I think it is better to remember the good times, rather than the bad.

Jessie was such a bright and unique person who, I am sure, affected many other people besides me and my friends. She was fun, energetic, creative, and imaginative, and she taught me many things.

Even when she had her cancer, Fifth Grade was the most enjoyable time for me and Jessie. I don't know if this was because I knew it would our last year together at Breakwater, or because our relationship got stronger every year we were together.

One thing that Jessie left me that I cherish and consider very special is a made-up language she taught me called Obbish.... To speak this language you put an "ob" before the first vowel in every syllable of a word. Let me try a phrase.... I said: "I'm speaking at the dedication of the Jessie building."

Unfortunately, I was never able to speak this language with Jessie because I only became fluent in it after she died. I worked hard to learn it because I wanted to always have something with me that was given to me by Jessie.

When people say it must be horrible to know someone who died, I think, "Well, it is horrible that she died, but with Jessie it was wonderful to have known her."

She was courageous, and if there was something she wanted to do, she wouldn't let anybody stand in her way. She wasn't afraid to play in an all-boy baseball league—or to stand up for someone who was having trouble.

Even if not everybody at Breakwater knew her personally, I'm sure everybody was affected by her one way or another, whether they saw a picture she drew or just saw her walking down the hall—this girl with bright red hair shaved into a Mohawk—and said to themselves, "I'm going to try something different, too."

For the good times and the bad, it was wonderful to know Jessie.

I think it's great that this building is being named after Jessie. This gives everybody who knew her a chance to think back to when she was alive. And for those who didn't know her, it will give them a chance to learn something about this great person.

THANK YOU.