Fourth Annual Carrie-Fest an Evening of Contrasts

Just like the oversize black and white stuffed panda up for bid on the raffle table, the fourth annual held at in Frankfort was an evening of contrasts.

"Oh, there's always laughter. Everybody always has a great time," said former Homewood-Flossmoor High School co-worker Kay Holdren.

"But we're all feeling a little melancholy tonight with this being the last one (Carrie-Fest). I'm sure we'll still do something next year to honor her," she added.

Carrie Hudek-Chiuso, a Frankfort resident and Homewood-Flossmoor High School alum who worked at the school as a social worker, was killed in the in Tinley Park.

"I was sitting at a friend's house when that news came on," said former co-worker Arlene Kadar. "It was so weird to be with a person one day and then she's gone the next."

Smiling through her tears, H-F colleauge Amy Garcia remembered meeting Hudek-Chiuso for the first time. "She called me on the phone and she had this real raspy voice," Garcia said of her short, blond friend.

"We really connected the first time she came in (to my classroom)," shared Garcia, who taught in the alternative expulsion program at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

"I thought we made a good team," she continued. "The kids loved her, and she worked really well with them. She was very approachable but still a professional. That's hard to do."

Hudek-Chiuso's aunt Judy Sensenich, who was in from Philadelphia for Carrie-Fest, recalled a trip that her sister and her niece took to  see Sensenich in Pennsylvania. At Carrie's request, the group made a side trip to New York City.

"Carrie had a list with her. We saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, 5th Avenue ... I saw more of New York City in two days!" she said. "Carrie was very organized, but she had an organized sense of adventure."

Hudek-Chiuso's brother, Mike Hudek, summed up the underlying emotional tension simply, saying, "An event like this, it's like a big party in her name. Everybody's having a good time and it helps. It's great in the moment. But you wake up the next morning and nothing's changed. The only good thing is all the kids we're able to help.

"You don't (ever come to terms with her death). You just learn to live with it," he said.

And so life goes on for the family and friends of Carrie Hudek-Chiuso, a young woman whose senseless death by seemingly random gun violence contrasts sharply with a young woman who worked passionately to make the world a better place for disadvantaged, highly troubled youth.

But no words reveal Carrie's heart and mind better than her own in a poem she wrote as an icebreaker to help her students open up about their own lives:

"I am from motown to country, From New Kids on the Block, Tiffany and Debbie Gibson,
I am from grunge and pop music.

I am from Disneyworld and Door County
From southside neighborhoods and backyard bar-b-ques,
and front porch sitting.

I am from pierogies and kolaches,
Corned beef and Irish soda bread.
I am from Sunday meals and family dinners.

I am from head-strong people,
Stubborn and sarcastic,
Laughter and happy times.

I am from flannel shirts, uniforms,
tight rolled jeans and dress codes.

I am from "Chattanooga chill" and
"Fritzburg freeze, if you please."

I am from stong values, morals, and beliefs,
From family over friends,
And blood is thicker than water.

I am from dreams and happily ever after."

Contributions may still be made to Carrie's Fund, a 501c3 which gives scholarships to Homewood-Flossmoor and Lincoln-Way High School students.