It has now been a year since Andrea was killed I still think about her every day & miss her very much there is no doubt in my mind that she is in a better place knowing that & reflecting on her wonderful life and spirit is a great comfort to me now.

Andrea "Jade" Spessard

(a.k.a. "Marlena")

1980-2004

This page is respectfully dedicated with all my love to Andrea Spessard.
She was an amazing,talented dancer(Jade) a beautiful model(Marlena)
a generous, loving friend
and when she was killed by a drunk driver on September 18th 2004
it ABSOLUTELY BROKE MY HEART.
She was 24 years old.

Andrea:In Pursuit Of Wonder

Some of us develop comfortable little ruts
in which we live our safe,predictable lives.
Andrea was NEVER like that she found her joy in meeting new people and experiencing new things.

In addition to being a model and dancer, she was a web designer,an artist,a writer and spoke fluent Spanish. She made yearly visits to Peru where she had many treasured friends.

She was very generous. She gave freely of her attention,her affection and her material posessions. When one of her Peruvian friends started his own business and needed a computer she put her OWN COMPUTER in a box and MAILED IT TO HIM.

When she met a person she always seemed to make a point to seek out what was positive and unique about him/her,
and she always made sure that the person knew and appreciated that positive/unique feature themselves.

In all the time I spent with her,I NEVER heard her complain.
I NEVER heard her say a NEGATIVE word about ANYONE.
If you were writing a novel you COULDN'T use Andrea as a character
Because nobody would find someone who was..
so positive,
so generous,
so free of bitterness or envy..
believable.
But that is really how she was.

Jade:dancer/healer

I first met Jade(Andrea)when I saw her dance.
Her dances were tender and graceful,never vulgar.
After the dance we sat and talked.She was smart, funny and very real.

Many dancers WON'T sit and talk to you if they think you're NOT going to buy ANOTHER DANCE.
But Jade would sit and talk and ...AND LISTEN! She was always genuinely interested in what you had to say.
Some of my favorite memories of her are sitting in the club,her holding my hand,
the two of us talking(shouting over the music) and laughing.

It was in these conversations that I first told her my ideas
for what would become Pin Up Paradise.
That's when I found out SHE was a WEB DESIGNER herself and she gave me lots of helpful advice.
She recommended an HTML course for me to take and she was always there for me when I had trouble with my assignments.
Once I put the site up she was always forthcoming with suggestions and constructive criticism
She was always very supportive and complimentary of my rudimentary page designs.
Its safe to say that there WOULDN'T BE A PIN UP PARADISE IF IT WASN'T FOR HER.

When a friend of mine brought his cousin to the club for his bachelor party
the young groom-to-be was very shy and nervous.
Luckily for him my friend had picked Jade to give the kid a dance.
Sensing the young man's nervousness she sat,talked with him and held his hand.
Only when she was certain that he was comfortable did she dance for him.

Jade LOVED being a dancer.
It wasn't just a way to pay bills.
She didn't see it as a stepping stone to something else.
She was very smart,very creative and very talented.
There are many other things she COULD have done and been very successful.
But she genuinely LOVED going to the club,dancing,performing and meeting new people every night.
I am happy she got to spend the last 4 years of her short life doing something she LOVED SO MUCH.

Marlena: Model/Muse

When you look at these photos you see a very beautiful woman,
the jet black hair,the porcelan complexion,the huge,pale blue eyes(she was also very tall)
Physicaly she was absolutely stunning!
Amazingly Andrea did NOT consider herself "very photogenic"(to use her words)
She only started modelling because it was yet another new experience she wanted to try.

But with every shoot we did I was more and more amazed at how good she was.
Every new outfit and new pose seemed to bring out a different facet of her personality.
Her face seemed totally different(but always beautiful)depending on her expression
or the angle of the shot.In short;she was an AMAZING model.

She was NOT,in any sense of the word,a "diva".
She would throw herself into whatever concept/pose/costume with great enthusiasm.
When we did the shoot for the "Accidental Secretary" vignette it was very long and involved.
There were numerous costume and prop problems.The lighting had to be moved and reset several times.
She DIDN'T COMPLAIN EVEN ONCE! Not only that but she was very pleasant
and usually had a helpful suggestion to fix whatever the problem was.

It was always a pleasure to shoot with Andrea/Marlena.
The best pictures I ever took were of her.
Of course,out of respect to her memory and her family
I have taken all of her galleries down
and the "Accidental Secretary" vignette will never be shown.
One day I may re-shoot it with another model,but I'm not looking forward to it
because it will be so painful.

However,since she was such a wonderful,inspirational friend,
I will always keep this page on this site to honor her memory.
And since she was so instrumental in the creation of this site,
I will always keep her image in our logo.....

The Last Time I Saw Her....

The last time I saw her was August 3rd 2004.
We were doing a schoolgirl themed shoot for the Fall "splash" page
As always,she was radiant,upbeat, enthusiastic,and we got some great shots.

After the shoot she gave me a long,intense,hug.
(it was my 37th birthday and I guess she sensed I was a little depressed)
It must have gone on for 5 minutes.It was almost TOO tight but it felt wonderful!

After that I walked her to the door.We hugged again.
I watched her get in her '83 Thunderbird and start the engine.
As she pulled away she cheerfully waved to me through the window.
I watched her drive away in the car she would be killed in 6 weeks later.

Look at this woman for a moment.
Reflect on how smart,generous,creative and beautiful she was.
Think of how much she enriched the lives of the people she knew.
Think of the joy and love she gave her many,many friends
Think of the parents who raised her and were so proud of her.
Now think about what its like to have a wonderful person taken away from you by such a stupid,senseless act.

MOTHERS AGAINST DRUNK DRIVERS

MADD is the oldest,most well-respected organization
dedicated to the elimiation of drunk driving accidents and fatalities.
Please contribute to their worthy cause
to help make sure we don't loose anymore wonderful
unique,amazing people like Andrea "Jade" "Marlena" Spessard!

We're putting together a "cyber-scrapbook" about Andrea.

Please share your memories of her with us and all her friends
Even if you don't think they sound like "stories" we want to hear them all!

(if you have some snapshots of her we would like to post them too!)

© 2005 Pin Up Paradise.Com