The wedding ring arrived in the mail, but Allan Brooks won't be needing it anymore.
His finacee, Chu Kin Britt, was killed in a auto accident Nov. 11 while traveling southbound on
Colo. 115 in Penrose.
The wedding will never take place. The site they chose for their home will never be built
on, and the children they dreamed of will never be born.
Mark Proctor, a 41-year-old man from Colorado Springs, forever changed the
lives of Brooks and Graff when at 2:37 pm that day his vehicle ran a stop sign on Third Street, smashing into Graff's car.
Graff was pronounced dead at the scene; Proctor suffered moderate injuries.
Proctor was charged with vehicular homicide and driving while under the influence.
"He should be put away, but no matter what they do to him it won't bring her back" Brooks said.
"I do think I'll go to the sentencing. I think it will help a little bit. Like I said,
it's already happened. It's done. There's nothing I can do to bring her back," he said.
People have been calling Graff's death a waste, a waste of love, a waste of a contagious smile,
and a waste of a model for unselfishness.
She was known for her frequent visits to senior citizens in Canon City and Fort Collins, the
city where she lived at the time of her death.
Brooks described his fiancee as caring, selfless, feisty, loving, affectionate, opinionated,
happy, usually late, easy to talk to, strong-willed and fussy with her hair.
"She had this real pretty smile. She would fill the atmosphere with love." he said.
He said he knew he found his soulmate when he first saw her smile two years ago. The two
met in Canon City where Graff grew up and graduated from high school - this year marked her 20-year class reunion.
On weekends, the couple often traveled, caught the newest movie release, tried new cusine or
simply shared a book. They used to take turns reading to each other in front of an outdoor floral display in Fort Collins.
And sometimes they would just simply talk.
"We just talked for hours. We went on a lot of trips together." Brooks said, then
paused for a moment. "It's hard loosing somebody out of the blue. It's just a shock."
"My whole plan was based on being together with her. (I need to) just take it one day
at a time and not really concentrate on what's going to happen in the future," he said.
His future began changing on Nov. 11 when he read a note on the refrigerator telling him that
she left for Canon City at 1:30 pm.
He still has the note.
Brooks began to worry when 5:30 pm rolled around and Graff didn't answer her cell phone.
By 7 pm he had left his home to go looking for her. He also filed a missing persons report.
During a conversation with a state trooper, Brooks was informed of the bad news that he
still has a hard time believing.
"It wasn't true. It can't be true" he said he thought at first. "I just started
crying and I couldn't stop," he said.
Brooks can no longer share his coffee with her in the morning. He will miss thinking of
her at lunch, when he usually ate the meal she packed for him.
He has no more calls to make before he goes to bed.
Brooks deems himself a better person for having known her. She has left him with unforgettable
memories, a strengthened self-confidence and a belief in fate.
"It's hard to describe the feeling I had when I was with her - I just felt like a whole person.
I'll always carry a piece of her with me. I always will," he said.
