The first time I met Nora Starks, we were about 12 years old and she wanted to play “lions” with me. Nora was home-schooled and wanted to socialize with girls her own age, so she signed up for the softball team. My dad was the coach, and we went to meet Nora before the first practice.
She pulled me outside by the hand while our parents talked and brought me down to the bottom of their yard near the road. When a car would drive by, we’d jump up out of our hiding spots like we were ambushing our prey.
I remember at first thinking we were too old for this, but Nora’s imagination and contagious laugh helped bring out my inner child again.
Once Nora played a season on the softball team, she joined Martins Creek Elementary School in the fall of our seventh-grade year. She was instantly welcomed into our family-like class, and when basketball season began, she was on the team with the girls she played softball with.
It was during basketball season when I learned she was earning money to build a stable for her horse, Midnight. She loved horses, and Midnight was Nora’s world. She put in a lot of effort and hard work, but the end result was a beautiful stable. Later, she got another horse, Vega, and began taking riding lessons that she talked about often.
When we entered Murphy High School, I was so relieved to see a familiar face in my homeroom – Nora. Over the growing years of high school, homeroom was always a safe space where we’d race against the clock to get homework finished and play a game Nora and I learned at Martins Creek called Egyptian Ratscrew.
Every morning, students in our homeroom would sit at a round table and play this intense game of a more complex “slap jack.” We incorporated our own new moves, like the “viper,” and laughed until we cried.
Outside of school, Nora was part of the youth group at Little Brasstown Baptist Church. I would attend events like “Disciple Now,” a weeklong mission retreat, as well as other youth retreats with Nora and friends from school.
Nora and I were in Interact club together, where the motto was “Service Above Self,” and did community service like “Adopt A Highway.” This motto followed Nora as the Little Brasstown Youth Group helped bring clear water to a village in Kenya by raising money and building a well.
The winter formal on Jan. 12, 2008, was the first dance I ever attended at Murphy High. While I was having fun with my friends, it did not go unnoticed that a large portion of my friend group was missing. When we asked, we were told there had been an accident, but nothing more was said.
The following day was Sunday, and I worked at Ingles in the same plaza as Kerr Drug, where Nora worked. It was there that I learned my longtime friend was in an automobile accident and did not survive. I was shattered.
Going back to school was like a fever dream, the dark cloud that hung over Murphy High could be felt for miles. The senior class met in the cafeteria, and our exams were postponed for a week.
Tears, hugs and silence followed students through the hallways. A memorial wall was made for Nora, and horse figures were placed around it with flowers and candles. Our lockers were also covered in flowers and other memorials where space allowed.
It snowed the night of Nora’s visitation, and Little Brasstown held hundreds of people who came to say goodbye. In this case, the old saying that the good always die young was correct.
Nora’s love for God and her empathy for others has inspired so many – even now, 16 years later.
Bob Massey of Martins Creek was Nora’s neighbor and friend since her family moved to North Carolina. He owned horses and would go riding with Nora, who became his friend through the years.
Through Nora’s vision and Massey’s efforts, Wells for Nora was established in 2021. The project has supplied more than 60,000 people with clean water through building and repairing wells overseas.
The Rotary Club of Murphy will be hosting a Bucket Brigade Challenge with the Murphy and Peachtree volunteer fire departments at 11 a.m. Thursday at Konehete Veterans Park. The funds raised will go toward providing fresh water to people worldwide and continue Nora’s legacy.
Stacy Van Buskirk is a staff correspondent for the Cherokee Scout. Email her at segv2014@gmail.com.
