Olivia Wilde: Friends, a few days ago I received a MySpace message from a fan named Lauren that broke my heart. She told me the story of her dear friend Rachel Conners who recently passed away. I asked her to write a few words so that I could pay some sort of tribute to Rachel, who was a wonderfully supportive fan, and, from what Lauren tells us, a beautiful soul. My thoughts are with her friends and family, and with all those out there who may struggle with the same hardships that overcame Rachel.Please take a moment to read about Rachel, and send her some love. ~O.WOn the March 2, 2008 we lost a dear and special friend by the name of Rachel Conners to a long and courageous battle against depression and substance abuse. During this very difficult time of sorrow, Olivia graciously reached out and requested I remember, and celebrate, Rachel’s life with you.Rachel both respected and admired Olivia, not only as an actress, but as a human being as well. She praised her as not only being talented, but as one of the few people in Hollywood who seem genuinely unaffected by fame and stardom.But beyond this, and more importantly, Rachel was an amazing young woman. Any person who crossed paths with her was bound to walk away with not only an imprint of the beautiful blonde in their memory, but with a lifelong friend as well. I will never forget the first time I met her. She was standing in the middle of her kitchen, sipping at a red plastic cup, in a heated debate with another friend about The Doors. She was loud, she was confident, and as she shook my hand and introduced herself, I knew I would never meet another person like her again. She was the type of person to take a running leap and explode into your life, with color and vibrancy that would make you wonder how you ever lived without knowing her.Life was never easy on Rachel, she had her hardships as everyone does, but she faced them from a very young age. She firmly believed that what does not kill you makes you stronger. Rachel was the strongest person I have ever met. However, being as humble as she was, she would never admit her strength. There were always people out there stronger; there were always people out there who had been through worse, and that mentality got her through a large portion of her life.In the time that I knew Rachel, she had held a steady management position in a restaurant, having worked up from hosting and waiting tables. She had gone back to school to get her GED while holding that job, and she had done it successfully. She was thankful for what she had and never had a single regret about her past. She would always say that every experience shaped her into who she was and she would not change that for anything in the world. Rachel knew who she was and she was proud of herself. She owned up to all of her mistakes, all of the things she did, whether they were good or bad. She used to always make a point of saying "people can believe what they want about me, they can live with their preconceived notions of the type of person I am, but I know who I am, and I am me. That is never going to change." She never pretended to be perfect, she knew she wasn’t, and that only made her strive more toward being the best person she could be.However, in the end, this world was too small of a place for Rachel; she needed more room to spread her wings. I think that had she stayed, she would never have found the peace and happiness she longed for. In my heart I know that she has found that happiness where she is now, and I take solace in knowing that. Rachel Conners left her own legacy here; it’s in the hearts of every single person who she ever touched, and that gives certainty that she will never truly be gone, as she dances through our memories and soars beside us through our dreams.Thank you,Lauren





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