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Letters to the Editor

To our amazing community:

A man lays a wreath on the surface of the water at Alligator Light in memory of Holly Given, who was killed late last month by her boyfriend in Riviera Beach.
A man lays a wreath on the surface of the water at Alligator Light in memory of Holly Given, who was killed late last month by her boyfriend in Riviera Beach. ©2016 Greg Poland Photography

We would like to thank all of you for the incredible love and support you have given us these past couple of weeks after Holly’s death. I don’t know how we could get through this without out you.

Thank you to my friends and family that took care of us immediately when we were in shock and disbelief. Thank you to everyone who has brought food, gifts, flowers, cleaned my house, or just sat with us and cried. Thank you all for her Celebration of Life at the Lorelei… those that planned it, came, spoke, the food, the flowers, the pictures.

Thank you to all that could get to Alligator Light for her remembrance...if you were there or saw pictures, it was truly magical and we all felt Holly there with us. Thank you for the continued outpouring of love and sharing from so many… friends, family, people we didn’t even know… writing about how Holly impacted their life, telling us about experiences with Holly, sharing pictures we’d never seen.

Thank you to those that traveled from far away because they just had to be here and be together. It brings us peace knowing how much Holly was loved. Holly had a beautiful life, a tragic ending, yes, but that was only a few seconds of her happy life.

Born in Key West, living on boat, running free on the beaches of the Dry Tortugas until she was 3, growing up in our safe and lovely Upper Florida Keys, living in the mountains of North Carolina exploring and hiking, finding a fun community of friends up the coast in Florida… she was a free spirit and always up for a new adventure. She was finishing her Bachelor’s degree at Palm Beach State and planned to move back home in the future, but she is home now with all of us.

Let’s keep her memory alive and live life to the fullest. We are so very grateful for all of you.

Love, the Given Family

[My family has set up a memorial fund for donations to help women in our community who may need a fresh start in life, like we all wish our Holly could have had.

Holly Given Fund, PO Box 9691 Tavernier, FL 33070 or Capital Bank, 91980 Overseas Hwy, Tavernier, FL 33070. For info on electronic transfer contact HollyGivenFund@gmail.com ]

Lucy Given, Key Largo

This story was originally published January 3, 2018 at 2:43 PM with the headline "To our amazing community:."