When her best friend, Heather Lynn, died in 2011, Kelsey Koslowski never thought that she would hear her laugh again.
The two were joined at the hip throughout school and into their early 20s, but tragedy struck when Heather Lynn turned 26. While Koslowski, 39, has grown to have a business and a family, her childhood friend, whom she describes as an “extraordinary” person, lost her life in a car accident 13 years ago.
While technology was flourishing in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it was not yet the norm for smartphone-armed youngsters to record all their memories and share them online. Koslowski, from Florida, had the shock of her life when her husband discovered an old camcorder tape from 2007 that unveiled a precious memory of her late best friend.
From left: Kelsey Koslowski and Heather Lynn in the 2000s; and Heather Lynn, in the camcorder footage that Koslowski found this year. The social media marketing manager spoke with Newsweek about her late friend and the internet’s newfound love for her.
@johnnyandginger
The tape held one last video of Heather Lynn that the couple did not even know they possessed. Koslowski, who runs a social media management firm, spoke with Newsweek about the lost recording and how sharing it online led to an outpouring of love for her late friend.
“Heather was a force of life too grand to ever fully describe in words,” Koslowski told Newsweek. “She was loud, she was chaos, she was energy, she was magnetic, she was love, she was remarkable, she was unforgettable.
“She barged her way past all of my walls and all of the lies and all of the hurt. She knit her soul to mine, chose me as her family, and showed me what true sisterhood is.”
Koslowski said that her late friend’s influence on her life was so profound that others ought to hear about her story, too, and so, on July 30, Kelsey shared the found footage to Instagram under @johnnyandginger. The short clip captured Heather Lynn sitting in a school auditorium, laughing and making jokes while surrounded by friends. The video has resonated deeply with viewers, amassing more than 1.8 million likes to date.
An overlaid text on the video read: “My best friend died before smart phones were the norm and we filmed everything. But my (at the time future) husband had an old school camcorder and we found tapes from 2007 that I didn’t know existed. Today I got to hear her laugh again. It felt like home.”
“When I shared the short video clip of her contagious laughter online, the entire internet fell in love with her,” Koslowski said. “She has gone so viral that even Haley Williams from Paramore, her favorite band, liked the reel! I can almost hear her screaming from heaven.
“The world fell in love with Heather Lynn in a matter of seconds because the love that she overflowed with cannot be held in space or time,” she added.
Koslowski said that Heather Lynn’s passion for life “lives on” in the 17-year-old clip that her husband found by chance while digitizing old camcorder footage. Koslowski checked in with Heather Lynn’s mother after finding the footage and recounts that they both “laughed and cried” at the short video, while agreeing that it has been incredible to see millions of internet users learn about their shared loved one.
“I posted it online so that her family and friends could see it and instead millions and millions of people were impacted by her and her life,” she said. “Heather Lynn, I always knew if anyone could go viral from heaven it was you, and I hope you know…we all really needed that moment. Millions of us.”
She added that while time has gone on and she has grieved the loss of Heather Lynn, her friend remains sorely missed and deeply loved. Her memory remains a cornerstone in Koslowski’s life. From their shared adventures in Chicago to cherished months in Switzerland, and the vibrant life they lived in New York, Heather Lynn’s impact is indelible.
“She wasn’t just my best friend, she was my person. She loved me, and everyone she ever met, completely and exactly as they were,” she said. “The world is STILL better because she was here.”
Heather Lynn’s life, though tragically cut short, continues to resonate deeply with her friends, family and now millions of viewers online.
“Hearing her laugh legit made me cry and I don’t even know her,” one viewer commented. “She sounds like such an amazing person to be around.”
Another added: “What a great laugh and what a gift.” The comment has been liked more than 150,000 times.
