Working to adjust
Kaytie and Avery Van Alstine are two normal sisters focused on an upcoming visit from Santa Claus on Thursday that is, when they're not engaged in the usual sibling spats.
"I want an Easy-Bake Oven," Kay tie, 5, softly whispered.
"I like horseys," Avery, 2, said slightly louder, demanding attention.
Even when they don't want to, the sisters share everything makeup, toys, cookies, and snow cones and although she gets a little high-strung at times, Kaytie watches diligently after her baby sister.
"She's a little bad sometimes, but they tell me that's just what 2-year-olds do," Kaytie said, flipping her long, golden blond hair from her eyes, scouting to see what trouble Avery was causing.
The girls and their grandparents sat down with a Press-Register reporter and photographer for their first interview since losing their mother, Shyla, their father, Phillip, and their older sister, Haylie, 7, all of who died in a July 29 car accident while returning from a Baton Rouge water park.
Five months later, Kaytie's injuries caused by the collision are barely evident as the kindergartner bounced from chair to chair at Jim Reeves' law office. Avery stayed home with her grandparents the day of the crash.
The well-known Biloxi attorney is advising the family in the incident that resulted in Louisiana State Police charging James C. Lane, 40, with the family's deaths. Lane was also charged with two counts of negligent injury and one count of reckless operation of a motor vehicle. The Baton Rouge man was released from the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison in August after posting $50,000 bail.
Kaytie and Avery's grandparents, Jerry and Diane Isaacson of Lucedale and Phil and Carol Van Alstine of Gautier, are raising both girls since that fatal day that shook their lives. Each couple spends a week at a time with the girls.
"We've all pulled together and we're doing what we've got to do to take care of our family," Jerry Isaacson said as Kaytie smiled at him and Avery nestled in Diane Isaacson's lap.
"I love you," Avery said smiling, looking up at her grandmother.
Shyla Isaacson Van Alstine was a 14-year English teacher at Vancleave High School. She was also the Lady Bulldogs' volleyball coach and led her team to six district titles and two state tournaments.
Phillip Van Alstine was an electrical engineer with Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding. He was on active military duty and, in 2003, deployed in Iraq for about a year.
Haylie was looking forward to being a second-grader and to having Kaytie as a schoolmate.
"We're getting through it," Diane Isaacson said of their losses. "Thankfully, they don't give us much time to sit and think."
Reeves said Thursday will be a tough day for the family and asked for community prayers.
"This is their first Christmas without their parents and sister," he said. "Their grandparents have bound together, and they're going to make it as special as possible."
A fund has been set up for the girls at Hancock Bank as the "The Kaytie and Avery Van Alstine Benefit." Donations can be made to any bank branch and Reeves said the money will help with their education costs and other expenses.
The attorney added that the case against Lane would be heard in federal court in Gulfport on Feb. 10. The trial's outcome could result in the family filing a wrongful death suit, he said.
For now, Kaytie is concentrating on her schoolwork. She loves making projects that include glue and claims to be a mathematics whiz. Avery loves to play in her tree house. She enjoys mornings filled with digging in the dirt and chasing Boomer, the family dachshund.
"Maybe," Kaytie said, "someday shell even catch him.
THE MISSISSIPPI PRESS
By CHERIE WARD
December 22, 2008
