Obituary of Carrie Anita Johnson

Carrie Anita Johnson, a.k.a. Rikki or Cookie, was born on July 13, 1974, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix, AZ. She passed away at home on October 4, 2019, in Gilbert, AZ. Carrie was an amazing, vibrant, beautiful soul with a kind heart who will be deeply missed. She was a strong, intelligent, independent, and eclectic woman who loved music, theater, reading, and great conversation. She was one of a kind with her colorful hair, great smile, and a wicked sense of humor. One of her greatest joys in life was being Aunt Cookie to her nieces and nephews. If you knew her, you were a lucky person. If you didn't know her, you truly missed out. One of her greatest passions was being involved with the independent romance writers community on Instagram and Facebook. She was great friends with many of them online and in person. She helped to promote the books, authors, photographers, and book cover models both online and at the many author events she attended around the country. Although her bucket list was cut short, Carrie managed to take her dream trip to New York City this past September with her sister and brother-in-law, Kim and Vince Florian. Her first adventure of this trip was an ambulance ride through Times Square. After a brief hospital stay, Carrie was raring to go and see the city. She attended her final author event on Staten Island and was able to connect with many of her romance writer friends during that time. She was able to visit a number of famous sites during her trip, but by far her favorite was the Manic Panic hair dye warehouse in Queens. It was there she was able to meet one of the founders, Snooky Bellamo. She also managed to "escape" the hospital in order to attend one final concert, Flogging Molly and Social Distortion, with her nephew, Christopher Scott, and her sister Kim Florian, at the Mesa Amphitheater just five days before she passed. "There is nothing but the moment. Don"t you waste it on regret." This was Carrie"s favorite line from the song "The Moment" by Toad the Wet Sprocket. She discovered this song in 2013 and it changed her life. It made her realize that she had to stop waiting around for other people and she decided to go out and seize life on her own. This is when she became more involved with the romance writer scene and began travelling to their various events. Please take a moment to listen to this song and may it inspire you to change your life as well. She is survived by her father, Walter Johnson, her mother, Catherine (Cathy) Johnson, her sisters, Kim Florian, Kathleen (Katie) Burris, and Amy Johnson, her brother-in-law, Vince Florian, her nieces and nephews, Christopher Scott, Brian Johnson, Jamie Johnson, Dakota Batchelder, Daniel Batchelder, Kaleigh McKennie, Miranda McKennie, her grand-nephew Levi Moore, and her cuddle-buddy Mickey (her cat). A celebration of life party will be held on November 2, 2019 from 10:30 a.m. "" 1:30 p.m. at McQueen Park Activity Center located at 510 N. Horne Street, Gilbert, AZ 85233. To honor Carrie at this event, please wear your favorite movie, theater, or concert t-shirt, or colorful socks. In lieu of flowers, please donate in her name to http://www.vetsports.org/donate For anyone wishing to send a card, please send them to The Johnson"s P.O. Box 2747, Gilbert, AZ 85299