As posted by Ericka’s brother, Brian…

“My last really in depth one on one conversation with Ericka was in August 2010. I called her to tell her that my wife Rachel was pregnant. It took a few days to get in touch with her. I kept calling and getting her voicemail. I would check my phone later and I had missed a call from her. Finally after a few days we connected. I found out that the reason I kept missing her was because she was working in the theater program at MAC. At different times she would work on scenery or wardrobe, or she might be auditioning or rehearsing. She was excited to have another niece or nephew on the way. We talked about her school and how she was doing. She had really found her groove and she was doing very well. I was really proud of her work ethic in college; it is something that I didn’t have at her age. Then we talked about theater and how much she loved it. Ericka wasn’t in theater in high school; this isn’t something that she envisioned doing in college. She took the class, became involved in the theater community, started working on plays, and it lit something in her. She started working on the productions behind the scenes and earned her scholarship. Eventually, she worked up the courage to start auditioning for roles. When I spoke to her in August, she had just auditioned for a role. She didn’t get it. Rather than being put off by the experience, it stoked her fire even more. I asked her how she felt about it, about theater, about auditioning, about getting a role or not getting role. She told me that what she loved about the experience was that it made her step out of her comfort zone. My baby sister, not quite 20, taught her big brother, not quite 40, a lesson. I was always proud of her, but probably never more than that day.”