Leafing through a family photo album, Ben Priest recalls vignettes of his sister Chrissy’s life.

Photos of a beautiful young woman with a lightening bright smile fill the thick book and bring back happy memories and smiles from the 21-year-old Langley resident.

There are also photos of a little blond, 5-year-old girl holding her baby brother, Ben. That’s Chrissy, too. By age 12, though, the younger brother was taller than his sister.

Priest points to one photo taken of the two at the San Diego Zoo and recalls a relative who worked with big cats took them behind the scenes to see the animals.

“As as we were leaving one of cats stood up to put its paws around Chrissy, and as the trainer pulled on its leash Chrissy was scratched around the back,” he said.

There are photos of Chrissy dressed for the many formal dances she attended with her boyfriend at Oak Harbor High School.

“She was very involved in school activities, and had lot’s of friends,” Priest said. “She was on the varsity swim team, a lifeguard at the pool and taught swimming lessons.”

But what he remembers most is that she was a great older sister who cared for her younger brother.

“She always looked out for me,” he said.

Eight years ago on June 11, 1995, Ben Priest lost his sister when Chrissy was killed by a drunk driver near Sacremento, Calif. The day before, Chrissy and three of her girlfriends from Oak Harbor High School left the island for a trip to Disneyland. At 1 a.m. the next day, the girls were traveling through Sacaremento. Chrissy was driving south on I-5 when a car with its lights off and traveling at 80 mph went the wrong way on the freeway and collided with the girls’ car.

The force of the crash killed Chrissy instantly. Her friends survived, although with serious injuries.The driver of the other car was drunk with a blood alcohol content of 0.25, three times the legal limit. He also died in the crash.

Chrissy’s step-father, Rick Pitt, says there isn’t a day that goes when the family doesn’t think about her.

“Chrissy was just full of life and brought joy to everyone around her,” Pitt said.

Last week, Pitt and and his step-son stood before an auditorium full of South Whidbey High School students to say a little about Chrissy and how she died. The assembly was part of the school’s annual drunk driving education day, which also included a simulated drunk driving accident in the school parking lot.

Just before the accident that took Chrissy from her family, she had just been accepted at the University of Washington having graduated with honors from Oak Harbor High School. Her graduation day, as well as several other important days, roll around each year with sadness for the family.

“It’s difficult for us during certain times of the year like now, Mother’s Day, near graduation and the anniversary of the accident.”

Chrissy’s mother, Vicky Pitt, speaks at Impaired Driving Impact Panels about her daughter and is a sixth-grade teacher in Oak Harbor.

What Chrissy’s family hopes is that her story will make people more aware of the risks of driving under the influence.

“It’s easy to believe it won’t happen in your family, but it can,” Rick Pitt said.

“Anything we can do to get the word out to not mix drinking and driving is worth it.”

Priest, a firefighter with Island County District 3, watched his fellow firefighters put on the high school crash simulation last Thursday. Though he has helped rescue people from car crashes, he said it was actually more difficult watching the simulated accident than being at a real one.

“The mock accident was hard to watch, because I wasn’t doing anything to help,” Priest said.