SANDY, Utah — On Halloween, loved ones were seen putting the finishing touches on a backyard that meant so much to former Alta High School lacrosse player Alyia, who died of epilepsy on August 21.
“So crazy, sad, and it's like the same gene of me," said Alyia's brother, Grayson Argyle.
With Alyia no longer able to finish her dream of re-doing her mom's backyard, the lacrosse team started cleaning up back in September. Over the past month and a half, Alyia's loved ones were able to completely transform the yard.
“Sometimes when you lose somebody, people come and they show up and then they disappear," said Alyia's mother, Melissa Christensen. "And one thing I've noticed is people haven't disappeared; people still show up."
“She would help rally us together as a family and do stuff, and now we've just been so sad that we can't do that for her anymore," added Alyia's sister, Melaina Argyle. And so the fact that people are still around helping us do that is really meaningful to us."
Cassie Smith, a friend of Christensen's, has been overseeing the project. She said Alyia's story cuts deep, especially having children herself.
“I cannot imagine not having one of them here, and the strength that it takes to be able to carry on… as a mother myself, I said, "this is something I can do," Smith said. "If we're not gonna take care of our neighbors, who is?”
Because of the GoFundMe, they were able to purchase things like sod for the yard, and even had companies donate after they heard Alyia's story.
“Sometimes you have the need to just be okay. And I have so many people remind me that we don't have to be, we don't have to just bounce back and be okay," Christensen said.
Christensen and her children can't take on the backyard, especially Melaina, who hopes to continue the legacy her sister started.
“I'm gonna be out here practicing lacrosse as her jersey number. Hopefully, I'm gonna get that as soon as I get to Alta," Melaina said, "she made it her whole experience at school, and I think that's even cooler.”