Sensitive, loving, wild, brilliant, powerful
One label could never capture Mayah. She was an adventurer, an explorer, an artist, a singer, and a devoted friend. She embraced the lost and was a ray of sunshine for the hopeless.
As elusive as she was undefinable, the easiest way to find Mayah was to follow the trail left from her beglittered regalia that inevitably dropped, which might lead down the path to a local swimming hole or maybe behind an abandoned building. You could also follow the sound of the colorful words she used to paint stories about faraway places or read aloud to a friend or cousin. Her beautiful mind encouraged others to dream and fight for what they believed in, even when it seemed crazy.
When the sun beat down, she and her companions waded in muddy waters and sweatily rambled forgotten lanes searching for lizards and crows. At night, when everything cooled, they drifted across shadowy graveyards and empty houses, passing through waist-high grass, catching flashes of snakes slithering between the blades.
From a young age, Mayah’s imagination was vivid and boundless. A natural leader: she brought her brother, friends, cousins, and the occasional stranger together to spend countless hours constructing elaborate fairy houses by the stream, playing games in the hayloft, and producing various “Mayah-inspired” skits and performances.
She never outgrew that childlike wonder, and as a result, she drew it out of those around her, endearing herself to all who knew her. She took them cloud gazing, contra dancing, midnight walking, and cartwheeling across the beach. In earnest conversations, she taught those around her to love deeply and dream big, and they took her lessons to heart. She talked often about the world and her concern for global causes, especially the crisis in Gaza.
Her encouraging words continue to inspire those who loved her to remain openhearted, because their next great friendship could be where they least expect it.
Creative time was essential to Mayah. She spent hours reading, writing, gardening, walking, collaging, sewing, and doing origami in solitude. As practical as she was fanciful, teenage Mayah completed a 500-mile self-powered winter adventure with an expedition company, where she skied, canoed, rowed, and biked a circuit from southern New Hampshire, through northern Vermont, Lake Champlain and back. She later ventured overseas for an Ecuador program and on her own through Europe. Her friend described her best as, “an intrepid traveler who loved the world and wanted more for and from it.”
Though the realities of managing substance use disorder changed the scope of her travels, she never stopped adventuring, loving people, or trying to escape from the trap she found herself in. Mayah harnessed her substance use struggles, channeling her energy into education and advocacy. She was passionate about substance use disorder education and wrote for a friend’s project, stressing the importance of harm reduction. She hoped to enroll in a long-term recovery treatment center and train for substance abuse prevention work to continue her positive impact.
Mayah’s mother, Rebekah Perry, provided the information for this narrative.
June 13, 1999-May 29, 2025–Age 25
Portrait Artist: Clayton Conner
Narrative Writer: Willow Kline
