PARK CITY — Franny Galeano's voice trembled as she remembered the last thing she told Grant Seaver — the boy she'd called her best friend ever since they were toddlers.

"I feel lucky," she said. "I feel lucky that our last words were, 'I love you.'"

Franny said she and Grant "argued like an old married couple" and acted as though they were dating, but not really. He'd steal her "Star Wars" shoes, she said, joke around and wrestle with her.

But what Franny said she'd always remember about Grant was how he'd tell her: "You're my beautiful sky," words she plans to tattoo on her skin.

"Because he was mine and always will be," she said, choking back tears.

Another one of Grant's friends, Zeus Garcia, sang a song he wrote right after he heard of his friend's death.

"I wish I'd been better warned, but now it's too late," Zeus sang, strumming his guitar. "You will always be my friend."

Franny and Zeus joined about 300 community members who gathered at City Park on Saturday to remember Grant, one of two 13-year-old boys who died last week within 48 hours of each other.

A tragic chain of events

Grant was found dead in his home last Sunday, just days before his best friend, Ryan Ainsworth, was found dead on a couch in his house by his father.

How the boys died is not yet known, but police are investigating whether their deaths have anything to do with a dangerous new drug, a synthetic opiod known as "pink" or "pinky."

While the sun shone bright and warm Saturday, emotions hung heavy as hundreds gathered in the city park. There were meek smiles, but long and heartfelt hugs.

"It's been an incredibly hard week for Park City," said Tracy Hardin, a family friend of Grant's parents, Jim and Debbi Seaver, who helped coordinate Saturday's memorial.

On Wednesday, another teen and a friend of Ryan and Grant, took a number of over-the-counter pills in an apparent suicide attempt. Later he was reported stable.

That same day, Park City sent drug-sniffing K-9s locker to locker in schools, including Treasure Mountain Junior High School, where Grant and Ryan were students. A baggy that tested positive for methamphetamine residue was found in a locker of a student who was a friend of Ryan and Grant, school officials said.

As police wait for toxicology results to determine how Ryan and Grant died, district officials have been warning parents about "pink," a drug that can be fatal to first-time opioid users, even when taken in small amounts.

The synthetic opioid, known as U-47700, can be ordered online and mailed from China, and was only proposed this month by the Drug Enforcement Administration to be placed on the federal register of Schedule I drugs.

The chain of events has launched the Park City School District into a self-described "crisis mode."

"Debbi and Jim, all of you parents, our hearts break with you," Hardin said

She urged those at the the park to use Saturday's memorial to "put away all of the imperfections that we all feel in our community right now and focus on celebrating what a beautiful life Grant had."

A short but full life

Grant was remembered as a competitive skier. A traveler. A fluent Spanish speaker. A drummer. And most of all, a brother, son, nephew and friend who had a beaming smile, an infectious laugh, and infamously strong hugs.

Grant's parents and his other brother, Luke, sat quietly beneath the park pavilion, while dozens of Grant's closest relatives and friends spoke into a microphone to share their memories.

"While he was with us for only a short time, we are so blessed to have had him for the days we did," said Grant's aunt, Lisa Jayne Sippel. "Grant was a happy boy who lived every minute of his short life to the fullest."

The eighth-grader's skiing coach, Jason Stinsmen, said he started training Grant when the boy joined Team Park City United at 7 years old. For the past five years, Grant had received perfect marks for attitude and participation in all of his skiing lessons, his coach said.

"His style in skiing matched his style in life — always smooth, graceful and fluid," Stinsmen said. "He was always smiling. His friends would tell you he's very funny and very smart."

Grant's Spanish teacher, Negin Smith, remembered how the teen asked to join a recent school trip to Costa Rica, and how he impressed everyone on the trip.

"He was a lot of fun and up for everything, but also polite, kind and respectful," Smith said. "Costa Ricans were so impressed by his manners, his Spanish and his positive attitude."

Grant's aunt shared her favorite memory of her nephew: When he was 5 years old, the family visited New York for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. As they were watching the giant floats being inflated, Sippel said, Grant suddenly disappeared.

"We panicked," she said. "We looked everywhere, and then we realized that little imp had snuck under the barriers, passed all the cops and walked right up to the Pillsbury Doughboy and poked him right in the belly. He was just so happy and proud of himself."

That story, Sippel said, embodies how Grant lived his life.

"He seized every moment. He found joy in every experience, even if it meant pushing the boundaries a little," she said.

At the end of the ceremony, Jim Seaver stood with the rest of his family to thank the community.

"Thank you all so very much," he said. "Thank you Park City municipal, the local police department, and the schools for all the support we've received."

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