'She's still with me': Family honors northern New York mother killed in Vermont crash

Six months ago, Reese Lemay woke up in a hospital bed surrounded by family members and learned the unthinkable: her mother and stepfather had been killed in a crash.Now, the 15-year-old is helping make sure her mother's memory lives on. Reese and her grandfather, Larry Hartson, are working to create a dog park in memory of Reese's mother, Kendall Hartson Lemay, whose love for dogs left a lasting impression on her loved ones. Yet, six months later, Reese continues to grapple with how what started as a family trip turned into a devastating tragedy. "Just disbelief," Reese said. "I can't believe how quickly my life could just change."On Jan. 23, Reese said she, her mother, her stepfather, Jacob Rivers, and Reese's boyfriend were traveling from their home in Northern New York to Vermont.While driving through Colchester, police said an oncoming driver crossed the center line, crashing into their vehicle before sending it crashing into another. "It was a three-car accident, and it was pretty horrific," Reese said.Reese said she remembers waking up in the hospital surrounded by loved ones as her family struggled to process the tragedy themselves."I was laying in the hospital bed, and I had my poppy and my gigi and my nana in there, and they had all just found out," Reese said. "My dad put his forehead to mine and said they didn't make it."Kendall Hartson Lemay was 38 years old. Rivers was 41.As Reese continues to navigate life without her mother, she said she has leaned on family members who have helped her through the difficult months that followed.For Hartson, that has meant holding tightly to memories of his daughter — especially her lifelong affection for animals."She always had a few dogs, a few cats, but mainly dogs," Hartson said. "As she was growing up, we had several and she just loved her dogs."Reese said that love was especially evident in the bond her mother shared with the family's dog, Cash."Cash was like her son. I'm her only daughter," Reese said. "We got him about a year after, and they were both attached."Now, Reese and Hartson hope that bond will become part of Kendall's legacy.With support from the Lake Placid Rotary Foundation, the family has begun raising money to create the Kendall Hartson Lemay Dog Park in Au Sable Forks, a community Kendall called home."We hope to have an acre of land here for a dog park, which will be named in memory of my daughter," Hartson said.The family hopes to complete the project within a year, though fundraising and work with town officials remain ongoing. Costs include fencing, site preparation and accessibility improvements."We've got quite a bit to do with fundraising, still some work to do with the town officials," Hartson said.For Reese, the project is about more than building a place for dogs to run and play. It is a way to keep her mother's memory alive."I have learned that she's still with me no matter what," Reese said.Hartson said he shares that sentiment."I think from afar, I think Kendall is with us, helping us move through this process," he said. "I think with her behind us we're going to make this happen, and we'll be very proud."Anyone interested in donating to the Kendall Hartson Lemay dog park can find more information to do so here.