My name is Kris Fluck (or Kris Westover for those who knew me when). I was born at Christmas time in 1971, the youngest of five children. The folklore which is what my childhood has become consisted of stories about naming me after Kris Kringle, squirting root beer out of my baby bottle & into my face, unrelenting tickle attacks, the long stories and most anticipated birth since our Lord – or so I have been told.

I come from a fairly large family. Mom & Dad (Cathi and Kyle) were married in 1960. Their family came quickly with the births of my brother Jay and sister Debbie, followed by my brothers Jeff and David. I came later – mom calls me her caboose child, born 6 years after David. So, several years separate me and my siblings which afforded me the opportunity to experience life with them as a youngster but as a teenager, I was pretty much an only child as by then my brothers and sister were well into building their adult lives. The cool thing is that despite not having younger siblings myself, I was blessed with lots of nieces and nephews thanks to my brothers and sister – 16 nieces and nephews and 2 grand-nieces, 2, grand-nephews and one yet to be determined grand-niece/nephew. And that’s just on MY side!! The Fluck side is growing just as fast. I will say, that although I have had the wonderful opportunity to see these wonderful people come into our lives and grow, there are a few who were long ago separated from us. Those girls are missed…and loved. We hope you’re happy and that one day you’ll want to know your family.

I also have two best friends whom I’ve known since I was 6 years old. We grew up together and were inseparable then as we are now – even though our adult lives have us living thousands of miles apart. You don’t get many true friends in this life. I am blessed to have two who I can honestly call my sisters. Blood doesn’t bond us but love and respect do. You know who you are.

I am a product of the 70s but spent my most influencial years in the 80s. Rick Springfield was my hearthrob of choice. I experienced the poofy hair, Reeboks, pegged pants, Ferris Bueller and cheered on the best football team of the 80s – the San Francisco 49ers.

This is me in high school. Some may think I am brave for putting this picture online but to be honest, despite how I felt back then, I don’t look half bad here. You can’t go back, though. So now, I’m stuck with what I got. I wouldn’t relive anything but I certainly wouldn’t mind having that 16 year old face back.

After high school, I was on the cusp of being burnt out with school but enrolled full-time at a local junior college anyway. 2 years later I had my associates degree and admission into San Francisco State. I was really into drama and movie making at the time and I had this crazy idea that I was going to go to film school and maybe some day work on an acadamy award winning movie. Yeah, that lasted a semester. I was officially burnt out at this point and wasn’t sure what was coming next. I took some time off and wound up working full time at Longs Drug Stores in California – the company that my father worked for, my sister worked for, two of my brothers worked for and at one time my mother worked for. It was the one place I vowed never to work but there I was managing a photo lab. The year off was good though and I was able to re-evaluate where I wanted to be and before long I was back in school full-time at Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock, CA – otherwise known as Turkey Tech.

By the time I graduated with a B.A. in Communications, I had met Mike. We met online in a country music chat room on the Prodigy online service. I was the country music interest group moderator – quite the novice at web design then. But it was there that I taught myself graphic and web design and where Mike and I started our unconventional courtship. It was 1996 and I was itching to get out on my own, so I made the some-what radical choice to not only move out of my childhood home but move clear across the country to Nashville, TN. Mike soon followed and we were married the following year. Nashville was wonderful. We had a lovely country wedding. And soon we were making a home in our first house – complete with two dogs and cat. Things were pretty perfect.

The only thing missing was children. Mike and I wanted them right away but they just weren’t coming. Things were changing in the world and hardship was falling on the people we loved. Being so far away wasn’t so practical any more. In 2000 we made the decision to move closer to my family who had relocated to Utah. We had hoped that with the high birthrate here, we’d find a good doctor who would help us in our desire to have children and having close family near by was something we looked forward to. The move paid off big.

In late August, 2002 Michaela Kristine was born. She was 8lbs 8oz of pink perfection. She was a best combination of both Mike and I and we were so proud. Things were going great. We had the family we dreamed of. We were near our loved ones and we were making a home for ourselves in the Salt Lake Valley in Utah.

Sadly, things change. We were hit with our obstacles in the harsh winter of 2008. January was littered with tears and pain unlike any other time in my life. My dear husband passed away in his sleep on January 4, 2008. Our home now sits empty. And Michaela and I now live with family who have so willingly taken us in to start anew.

Jobs come and go, as mine have this year and standing before an uncertain future is petrifying. In hindsight, the beginnings were much like a fairytale. The best laid plans that we had certainly have come to the proverbial fork in the road. Without a companion to help me choose which road to travel on, I must find a way to carve my own path. So here I am.

Krisfluck.com is meant to highlight my abilities as a graphic artist, website designer and marketing manager. This is my professional path. But my professional abilities are not and will not be what define me. I am a mother first. And with that comes many responbilities that other single and widowed mothers know all too well. If you like what you see here, then contact me and perhaps I can assist you with your prefessional needs. If you feel pity, please move on. I don’t really need your sympathy – I just need to make a living and provide for my daughter.

The next chapters of my history are currently being written. I hope soon, this saddest of them will close. It will be good to look back upon this time as a moment where I rose above adversity and found a way to make a difference. It’s what I must do to honor my husband… to be of influence on my daughter and for myself, have worth.