From Princess to Queen to Angel Celebrating the life of Dru Sjodin
When Dru Sjodin, a 22-year-old Pequot Lakes native and University of North Dakota student, first went missing on November 22, 2003, her family and friends hoped and prayed for her safe return. Nearly five months later, after countless hours of searching, Dru's body was discovered in a ravine just outside of Crookston, Minnesota. The shreds of hope to which so many were clinging vanished as news of the discovery spread. Six days later, more than 1,500 people gathered at her funeral to say goodbye to their beloved Dru.
Now, ten months since Dru first disappeared from a mall parking lot in Grand Forks, North Dakota, her family and friends are still struggling with the pain of their loss and searching for ways to keep the memories of Dru alive. On September 17, the Pequot Lakes community will dedicate a garden to Dru,filled with pink flowers as beautiful reminders of her life. The garden dedication comes only nine days before what would have been Dru's 23rd birthday, a day that brings with it a celebration of the life of a young woman who left her mark on the hearts and souls of so many.
Princess Doodles - The early years
From the moment Dru Katrina Sjodin entered the world on September 26, 1981,her smile brightened the room. Named after her maternal grandfather, Drew, and weighing just less than seven pounds, Dru was blessed with an unexplainable light that glowed from within as nurses presented her to her excited parents. I specifically remember when the nurse handed her to me and said, What a beautiful baby, said Linda Walker, Dru's mother. Beautiful was an understatement. Dru's electric blue eyes soaked in her new surroundings as her father embraced his first and only daughter.
I called her cream baby, said Dru's father, Allan Sjodin. She had big buttermilk cheeks, just such a chubby face. She was so smiley and pudgy and just lovable. Dru's personality was evident from the day she was born. She was very good-natured and just really easy to handle, said Linda, who noted that those traits carried through to Dru's older years as well. She wasn't a fussy baby at all, she was a wonderful baby.
When Dru came home from the hospital she took her place as the final member of the Sjodin family of four. Sven, born less than two years before Dru, welcomed his little sister, happy to have a new buddy. It wasn't long before Dru earned the nickname Glue, as she stuck close to her mother during her first years of life. She spent a lot of time glued to my side, Linda said. She was extremely shy at first. When Dru wasn't at her mother's side, she was learning to fend for herself with her older brother. She and Sven, who were often mistaken for twins, had an immediate bond with each other. From the time they were very small, I remember Sven holding her hand when they walked, said Carol Sutfin, Dru and Sven's aunt. They would bicker like all siblings, but Sven was definitely the protector of his baby sister, added Carol, who first met Dru when she was a toddler and immediately gave her a fitting nickname.
We had a family reunion in Spearfish at Grandpa and Grandma Sutfin's home. I was in the basement when Linda, Allan and the kids arrived, Carol said. Iıll never forget looking over at the stairs and seeing this darling little one peeking around the corner. She came down the steps followed by Linda. She was wearing a pink ruffled dress and cute little shoes. I took one look at her and said Oh, Princess! Dru was always Princess after that. And deservedly so. Dru spent much of her youngest years dressing up in pink, her favorite color, and playing with girl things. We were always doing girlie things together, said Linda. I was more of a tomboy when I was young so to have her was such a different type of thing. She was a girlie-girl.
When she was only two years old, Dru developed a unique addiction to butter. Allan remembers the first time he discovered Dru's obsession with the dairy product. He was taking care of Dru while Linda was away and Sven played at a friend's house. Allan decided to take a shower while Dru played with her toys. I thought I heard a drawer open and close, so I hopped out and Dru was gone, Allan explained. I called out for her but got no answer. There was a crack in the door so I searched outside, but no Dru. Allan, with panic racing through his body, ran back inside to call the police. As he picked up the phone, he heard a quiet rustle. There she sat behind the radiator eating three-quarters of a pound of butter,² Allan said, smiling at the memory. That was the first of many encounters with butter Dru would attempt to hide from her parents. Linda remembers another time when Dru hid under a bed and managed to eat an entire pound of butter before being noticed. Eventually, Dru grew out of her addiction.
Carolyn Tichich, whose mother had a daycare in their home, spent her first decade growing up with Dru. ³I played with Dru since we were two, said Carolyn, who last saw Dru when they were about 11 years old. The two young girls spent their days perched on top of Carolyn's mom's dresser where a large mirror offered an optimal dress-up location. I remember getting lipstick all over our faces, Carolyn said. We'd sit there in front of the mirror talking about what we were going to name our kids. The dainty duo both liked the name Tiffany, so they would get all dressed up with jewelery and makeup and call each other Tiffany.
Every summer the youngsters went to a nearby park for a Tiny Tots program. I have this picture of us from Tiny Tots and Dru is dressed as a princess. She's a princess and Iım a gypsy, Carolyn explained. And that's just how it was. While Dru loved playing the part of princess, she never liked playing with dolls like Barbie. She liked the dolls you looked at, but not the ones you played with, said Linda. Dru preferred animal-type toys like My Little Pony more than any type of doll. Doodles, as many called Dru because of her constant desire to draw, may not have enjoyed playing with dolls, but those who cared for her during her youngest years remember her as a real-life doll. It was hard to believe her porcelain skin, beautiful blonde ringlets, and bright blue eyes were real.
The most precious thing that I remember about Dru is that if you were talking to someone and she wanted your attention, she'd place her two tiny hands on your face and turn you towards her. You couldn't even get mad at her for interrupting because you'd see those big eyes, said Janet Amundson, Carolyn's mother. She was just very sweet and precious and very polite and soft-spoken. She was just a loving little princess. Dru and Carolyn spent hours adorning themselves in costume jewelery, but one necklace, the Princess Diamond Necklace, as they called it, always caused an argument. They'd fight over it so much that I finally gave it to Linda to put somewhere," Janet said. But the sparkly necklace somehow ended up back in Janet's possession. Years later, Carolyn said she decided to put the necklace in the only place it belongs. This past April, the Princess Diamond Necklace found its permanent home buried with Dru.
At an early age, Dru learned that there are all different types of families. Allan and Linda separated when Dru was only three years old; by the time she was five she had moved into a new house and had a new parent in her life, too. One of the first things I thought when I met Dru was, Sven is going to run all over her, said Sid Walker, Dru's stepfather. But Sid, along with many others who thought the same thing, quickly learned that Dru was not one to be walked upon. She was pretty good at holding her own when it came to her brother, Linda said. ³She kept up with him. Whatever he could do, she could do too. One of the earliest memories Sid has of Dru is when he showed her his boat and Linda told Dru about the potty on board. The first thing she did when she got on the boat was go to the bathroom, Sid said. I think she held it all day long just so she could use the potty on the boat. Unlike many children who experience their parents divorce, the adjustment to the new family dynamic was not as difficult for Dru and her brother. Allan, Linda and Sid worked hard to be sure the children did not suffer from the adultsı life decisions. Sven and Dru were our world and we never once wanted them to suffer, Linda said. In fact, each year Allan spent holidays with the kids at Sid and Linda's house. Dru and Sven never had to decide which parent to spend a holiday with because they could spend it with both, Carol said. They adapted to the new situation and were able to enjoy their time together. There was a lot of laughter and always good meals, Allan said. Dru and I were snuggly bears. I never had a holiday where Dru didn't come and put her head in my lap.
Dru and Sven spent time at their father's place, too. For awhile, Allan lived in an old, vacant hotel where he was the sole occupant. When Dru and Sven came to visit, they had the whole place to play. We'd turn the dance floor into an obstacle course, Allan said. We set up chairs and things and they drove through it with their bikes. We even had piped-in music, so we'd be doing the racing to Beethoven. One year, Dru and Sven spent Easter with their dad at the hotel. My father woke us up early that morning and said that he had thought the Easter Bunny might have shown up, Sven said. Dru and I were so excited and, sure enough, my dad came back to the door and said that the bunny was out hiding all the eggs. My sister and I ran around the entire hotel finding eggs under chairs, hidden in corners, everywhere you can imagine.
During her youngest years Dru became active in gymnastics, skiing, and eventually swimming. Dru hated swimming at first. It wasn't until one of the family's first vacations that she found her fins. While on a cruise, Dru hopped into the ship's pool where salt water gave her a sudden buoyancy. She'd go out a little more from the edge each time, Sid said. The next thing you know, she'd swim across the pool. Dru returned home to Mound, Minnesota shortly after the vacation to become one of the best swimmers for her age. She loved it from then on, Linda said. Dru was also a dedicated student.
One year in grade school she wrote an essay about the sounds in the night, and received an excellent grade. But when Dru brought it home for her mother to read, Linda was more than a little embarrassed. We had this bed that literally squeaked if you sat down on it, Linda said of her and Sid's old wrought iron bed that made noise if anyone simply bumped into it. So, of course, one of the sounds she wrote about was Mom and Sid's bed. I was mortified. I couldn't even imagine what the teacher was thinking. Dru also loved fishing and was active in track, too. She won a lot of ribbons for track when she was real young, Linda said. But there was no doubt of Dru's number one love, even when she was only a little girl. She was always, from the very beginning, a very artistic person, Sid said. And she proved it time and again as she made special cards for her parents or created gifts for family friends. She always had paint brushes in her hands, said Linda, who always brought Dru along to girlfriendsı birthday parties. She'd always do paintings or draw pictures for them. She loved giving gifts just as much, if not more than, receiving gifts. From the hand-painted bench she made for Sid as a present one year, to the tiny bottle given to Linda, labeled To mom: my heart in a bottle, containing a small stuffed heart inside, the gifts Dru gave to her loved ones were always meaningful. I still find cards made by her, Linda said. When it was Dru's turn to receive gifts, she did so with excitement and anticipation.
She loved birthday parties, even if sometimes the parties weren't for her. Dru and Sven both celebrated fall birthdays, a time of the year that conveniently corresponded with Oktoberfest at a church near their house in Minneapolis. We lived right next to the church and the party had ponies and slides, Linda said. Dru and Sven always thought it was for their birthdays. In addition to the Oktoberfest celebration, Dru usually had a birthday party for family and friends to attend, too. We always celebrated birthdays and any other occasions, any reason to have a party, Linda said. Dru's parties often had themes involving Care Bears, Smurfs or whatever Dru was into that year. Her Princess birthday party was one of the most memorable. They had a fairy there and we all got to make wands, recalled Shari Sjodin, Dru's cousin, who considers Dru more of a sister. We were all more like sisters because none of us had real sisters, said Shari about her relationship with Dru and their cousin, Janelle Sjodin. The cousins became close throughout the years from spending summer weeks in Park Rapids at a campsite on a lake. The Lake Kids, as the youngsters who spent time at the site were called, grew up knowing that each year they would all gather at the lake for fun and excitement. The space where we played while camping seemed so big then. Now when I look at it, it's so small, said Shari, 23, who once hooked Dru in the belly button while fishing at the lake. We ran around like rugrats getting dirty, said Janelle, 24, who remembered playing a lot of Kick the Canı during the summer months. Softball was another popular game among the kids, who gathered to play in the back of the lake lots. They loved to play softball up at the lake, said Dottie Swanson, a friend of Dru's family since even before Dru was born. They would do this for hours. Dru, Shari, and Janelle stayed in the same bed when they camped. They often had to be told several times that it was time to go to sleep. We always wanted to stay up late, Janelle said. Late at night, they used Allan's CB radio in the camper, hoping they wouldn't get caught. We would talk to truckers and yell at people, said Shari. We'd get in so much trouble, added Janelle. The girls spent their days out fishing, goofing off or grossing each other out. Whenever Dru was grossed out she'd say, Gag me with a spoon and call me George,ı² recalled Shari. When it was time for bed, Allan told the kids the story of Maple Sugar Annie, a supposed homeless lady that traveled at night to all the campgrounds in the area searching for food. Maple Sugar Annie scratched at tents and camper windows, and Allan was always sure to have someone outside to do the scratching at just the right moment. Dru would freak out and jump down with my dad and snuggle and cuddle with him,² Sven said. Before the kids actually went to sleep, they'd spend time in the camper blowing bubbles, telling stories, and making a lifelong bond with one another. ³We don't even have to open our mouths and we know what the other is thinking,² said Janelle. Their time at the lake was the beginning of what Janelle always imagined to be a wonderful, lasting relationship. I was always so excited for us to get older, she said. We always knew we were going to be sisters forever.
In 1992, after spending several years in the Twin Cities area, Linda and Sid decided to move their family north to Pequot Lakes. Dru wasn't exactly excited about the move at first. "She was upset because she had to leave all of her friends," Sid remembered. But Dru's vivacious personality and willingness to welcome others into her heart left her with no reason to be upset. She immediately made friends when she arrived, building lasting friendships from the moment she entered Pequot Lakes as a fifth grader.
During her first year in Pequot Lakes, Dru brought home a maple tree sapling, which she promptly planted in her new backyard. The tree stands tall today, reminding Dru's family of her constant presence in their lives. Dru also created many projects around the house that showed her creativity and gave her family quality time together. When she was in sixth grade, Dru and Sven gathered with their mother behind the garage to mix up cement to put thieir handprints in a permanent place. It was Dru's idea, Linda recalled. Everything like that was always her idea. Dru and Sven took turns sinking their hands into the wet cement blocks and then brought the family dog, Buddy, and their cat, Shadow, over to the cement for their turns at making imprints.
Dru's childhood years were defining moments in her life that gave those around her a clear picture of what she was all about. Her internal glow only brightened as she got older, with a smile that melted the hearts of adults around her. Dru's charisma and optimism gave those in her life the image of a vivacious youngster with the whole world ahead of her. She was just very, very happy, Dottie said. She was the happiest little girl and that continued through her life.
