My name is Kim (Vande Brake) Crespi. David Crespi and I met at California State University in Sacramento.  We were both Business Majors concentrating in Accounting.  I remember first seeing David standing by the wall in the Student Union during our pledge semester for the honors accounting fraternity.  We became friends and were officers in the fraternity together during the next semester.

 

I enjoyed studying with him and always wanted to be on his team. He was smart, funny and nice. He graduated from college with top honors and then received national honors on the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Exam and the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Exam.

 

David married his college sweetheart, Kimberly, a year after our graduation.  He worked in public accounting, became a CPA and a CIA, and then left public accounting to work for a Sacramento bank where he became a young Chief Financial Officer.  He was respected and very successful.  He and Kimberly enjoyed a sweet family life blessed with 2 children.

 

Tragedy struck when Kimberly was diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor and died a year later.  This is where I come in.  After 10 years of working in various accounting positions, I had wondered where in the world my husband could be, not imagining that it could be David Crespi. But soon it became very clear that there was a plan for David and me and for our new family.

 

David and I were married in 1994 in a big Catholic wedding after I had converted from being very Protestant to becoming Catholic to tie our family together.  I joyfully adopted Jessica (then 6) and Dylan (then 2).  My dream of marriage and family life had begun.  We were blessed to have Joshua in 1996 and then in 2000, we were doubly blessed with identical twin baby girls, Tessara and Samantha.

 

David’s career was eventful and relocated us to Charlotte, North Carolina, in the summer of 2001.  We as a family of 7 were on a big adventure on the other side of America from our California roots and family.  Life was good and we were happy. Life was a joy filled journey together in love with our faith, family and friends.

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