Henrico High student left legacy of love
By Bill Lohmann
Published: April 14, 2010
My first vivid recollection of Priyanka Kaushik was the evening I drove her and my daughter home from an elementary school sock-hop.
Even at that late hour, they were, to put it mildly, revved up. To say they were a bit boisterous in the backseat is a little like saying standing next to a jet engine could be a slightly loud experience.
I'm already operating an ear down in the hearing department, and I thought for sure the good one was a goner that night. But now that I think about it, it wasn't so much the volume that got my attention as the sheer, unadulterated gusto that filled the car. That was Priyanka.
She and my daughter had become fast friends that year when they'd met in what was a new school for both of them. But then, it was hard not to be Priyanka's friend.
She was a girl with a ready smile and a kind word; she made you want to be around her. She was excited about everything and funny and, yes, her voice carried. She could sing, she could draw and she made exemplary grades. She also was sweet; whenever she went to a friend's house for a sleepover, before turning in she always talked to her mom on the phone to tell her good night and to say she loved her.
Later, we learned she was brave and downright tough, a combination of grace and grit.
Priyanka battled leukemia for more than a year before drawing her last breath on Nov. 20. She never saw her 16th birthday.
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