Connect with us

High School

‘Our family is hurting’

Kaitlyn 'Moe' Rosensteel (2001-2019) - Photo Courtesy Ed Rosensteel

Our family is hurting.

We are devastated, angry, confused and just sad beyond belief. Just when you think you cannot cry anymore, we do. There are so many reminders in front of us of our daughter. Our life will never be the same. Our daughter, Kaitlyn ‘Moe’ Rosensteel, was taken from us on Thursday and we never got to say goodbye, we never got to hold her. I kept asking to go back and see her and hold her to tell her I love her and kiss her goodbye. I sit at my dining room table and wait for her to walk through the door and this to all be over. She doesn’t, she can’t because they took her. She has left her parents, sister and brother. She has left extended family and friends and many people who she has touched. Our family sees the out pouring of emotion that is being shared on social media, the text messages and phone calls we receive to extend their sympathy. We might not respond but they are getting through.

To say soccer was my daughters life would be wrong but it was a huge part. She loved the outdoors, she loved to travel. Did not have to be exotic just somewhere. She was a very free spirit. She had my sense of humor and in our house she was the roast master. Pittsburgh’s sense of sarcastic humor. Our family vacation was coming up and we started to do funny Christmas cards there. We were doing a Pittsburgh Christmas card and her shirt read Yinzer AF.

Moe got her nickname from a bad haircut when she was just a couple years old. The name Moe stuck and it became more than just a nickname. It was her attitude, what it was to be Moe. Her name was Moe. She wore the number 86 in club soccer since the age of 9. She chose the number because of Hines Ward. She chose it because he smiled a lot no matter what. Yes he was a good player and popular but he worked hard and smiled. The number at some point became synonymous with Moe and no longer Hines. Moe and 86 went together on the soccer field. I remember when she was little playing 3v3 and we won the regional to get to go to Disney and she just walked off as the other girls were celebrating and cheering. “Aren’t you excited?” we asked. She said “Yeah but we haven’t won anything yet.” There was more to accomplish and she always knew that. She won a WPIAL title and lost a WPIAL title while at GCC and I got to be on the sidelines with her and my daughter Keli.

It is by far some of the most cherished moments in my life. I got to do something they loved doing together. There was a fight during her last high school game. She was first in to try and help pull people off of her friend/teammate. She was so looking forward to attend West Virginia Wesleyan College in the fall and be part of the LBC soccer team. She had been working on getting in shape to make sure she could earn a starting spot. She was to room with one of her best friends from high school and club soccer and they would be on the team together with another fellow club teammate. It is gone, she is gone. Our family has memories to live on and a life’s worth of those from an 18 year old girl.

Yesterday at Greensburg Central Catholic four young adults stood and spoke of Moe and Brendan.

I heard stories I have never heard before and it made me smile for just a moment. I want to hear al of those stories for the rest of my life. To see the GCC, Norwin and Ringgold communities come together and support one another and give people a chance to heal and grieve together. The Beadling soccer family and all the other local soccer organizations, we are gracious for your support.

It has been outright overwhelming to see how many people she has come across and touched a part of their life. We raised her to be kind and thoughtful of others and she by far has exceeded everyone of those expectations. We ask those to honor her by taking what made her special to you and incorporate that into your life so her spirit may live on through what those actions are and not just memories.

My Wife and I are not sure how we are going to move past this. Time heals all wounds they say but this is not a wound but our daughter’s life  and it was ripped from us. Moe is one of the three loves of our lives. I lost my friend, my thanksgiving prep cook, my designer, my travel partner and my daughter. I love her so much it hurts to write these words. I write them to try and heal and try to let people know who she was and what made her special.

Our family thanks you for your support in this sad time.

 

Pittsburgh soccer community mourns loss of ‘absolutely great, great kid’

Glory on the Grass

Riverhounds MF Kenardo Forbes

Subscribe to PGH Soccer Now

Enter your email address to subscribe to PGH Soccer Now and receive notifications of new posts by email.

More in High School