Sahara Aldridge

Sahara Jayde "Hoops" Aldridge, 13 years young, passed away peacefully and valiantly earned her angel wings at her home on the evening of Monday, Nov. 5, 2007.

She is survived by her loving parents, Shannon and Amy Aldridge, who adored her with all their hearts.

Sahara is also survived by her uncle and aunt, John and Sandy Bruenderman of Cape Girardeau; their son and daughter-in-law and children, Darrin, Jill, Carson, Elise, Claire, Evan and Cole Bruenderman, all whom she loved so dearly; her grandparents, Eddie and Lorene Parkinson of Olive Branch, Ill., Darrell and Sandy Prim of Grand Chain, Ill., her great-uncle and aunt, Comer and Evelyn Aldridge of Atoka, Tenn., and a host of aunts, uncles and cousins from all over the country.

Sahara would want us to include these precious people as family: Rick Springfield, Pamela Yaeger, Jennifer Hecht, Frances "Granirna" Dooley, Sue Packard, Franqua "Coach Q" Bedell, Frank Ellis, all coaches and players for the Lady Redhawks and all of her basketball teammates throughout the years.

Sahara leaves behind so many friends, many of whom she had known since kindergarten. She loved them all so much, and if you were loved by Sahara, you truly know what love means. She was so happy to be a Central Tiger, and wore her colors with pride. Sahara made friends no matter where she went, and lived life to the fullest every day. She was always ready for a party, ready to rock and ready to have fun. Her smiles lit up our world so brightly and her laughter was music to our ears.

She fought so hard to live and never complained, even on her hardest days. Sahara touched literally thousands of people with her strength and her spunkiness, which she maintained until the very end.

Sahara loved her family, her friends, basketball, her school, her teachers, her coaches, her doctors and nurses, her beloved cats and dogs, Semo, Cleo, Puddy, Stormbringer and LuLu, the High Hill Hecklers, the Lady Redhawks, the Tennessee Titans, the Lady Vols and the St. Louis Cardinals.

She loved going to Rick Springfield concerts and rocking out with the band. She loved traveling, loud music, pizza and hanging out with her best girlfriends. If one word could sum up Sahara, it must be LOVE.

A celebration of Sahara's life will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Lynwood Baptist Church in Cape Girardeau. We invite everyone who loved her to join us to honor her memory, and to rejoice that she no longer suffers here on Earth, but soars with angels high above us all.

Memorials in Sahara's name may be sent to the Mississippi Valley Therapeutic Horsemanship program in Oak Ridge or to the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri. She loved animals and would be so happy to be remembered in this way.

Ford and Sons Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.