By Terra Avilla
I don’t know how I was so lucky to stumble into a friendship with Christi Myers, but every time I see her, and hear about the great things she does for our community, I am quickly reminded of how blessed I am to know her.
Christi, who at that time worked for Public Health, entered my life kind of forcefully. I met her when she arrived to the police department, saying she wanted to help with a project the department was in the infancy stages of planning.
You see, five years ago, another SPD officer and I wanted to plan a live scale Active Assailant Training. We believed this training would help streamline communication between all of the agencies who would be responding to a critical incident in our county. It had never been done before.
Christi went out of her way to inject herself into the project. Not in an overbearing way, but in a matter of fact, “let’s get this done, and let’s get it done well,” type of manner. She corrected whatever needed to be corrected and fixed whatever needed to be fixed without any prompting.
I don’t know how Christi heard what we were trying to do, she kind of just showed up one day at the police department, asked to speak to my partner and I, and offered her help. By the end of the event, she had supplied all the participants with food, make-up to make injuries look authentic, had helped organize a whole separate medical portion of the event, provided supplies, electronical support, a way of tracking participants, etc. We would not have been able to do it without her.
A couple of years later Christi told me she was going to start teaching a nursing program at Lassen College. As sad as I was to see her leave Public Health, I knew that when the college put her in charge of getting their nursing program up and running, they had selected the only person with the tenacity, knowledge and follow-through to bring that program to life.
I was right. Look at it now… thriving. Pumping out graduates. Giving careers to its students, moreover, also ensuring that there is sense of stewardship throughout the program.
Who went over to help the Paradise victims in the shelters with much needed medical aid? The LCC nursing program. Who traveled abroad to help others in an impoverished area of the world? Christi and her troops. Who reaches out to Holiday with A Hero, Salvation Army, etc to make sure they have enough volunteers? Christi and her nurses. Who helps facilitate drive-through flu shot clinics? Yup, you guessed it.
Christi also helps pump positivity back into our community through her works in Soroptomist International, through her job at the college and in how she lives her day to day life.
I don’t know a more authentic human being than Christi. She just has this underlying coolness and calmness about her. You would not even guess that she is the mom of three small kids, two of them who are twins.
Did I mention on top of all that she does, she stills finds time to be a volunteer for CASA? She helps give a voice to children who are in the foster system.
More impressively she is also a devoted wife to a first responder. Her husband often works very long shifts serving the Susanville Fire Department. This in and of itself is rewarding but can be mentally daunting. I have never heard Christi complain about anything. Ever. Christi is honestly a real-life hero.
So, Mrs. Myers, I’m sure as you read this, you are probably in the middle of doing something to help save the world, but I hope you take just a second and realize what an impact you have made on Lassen County. You prove that you can be smart, and strong and beautiful. You can have an amazing career and still be the world’s best mother and wife.
You are the culmination of so many brilliant things. I hope you realize how spectacular you are. Thank you, Christi – I sure do look up to you. You are a cherished friend, and one of the very reasons, I love the place we live.
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