Amy Leigh Ballard

The one and only Amy Leigh Ballard, “driver of death wagons and reader of fairy tales” and oh, so much more, entered this timeline on July 28, 1987, in Arlington,Virginia. She was welcomed by her devoted parents, Tommy and Susan, and joined 8 years later by her “badass” sister, Zoe. Amy was born with a fighter’s heart–fierce and strong, even as it was physically imperfect. She battled overwhelming odds at 3 months and, in her mother’s words, “kicked the shit out of” heart surgery at only 3 years. Her heart served her well as she faced obstacles such as the terror of the Virginia Tech shootings her sophomore year and the death of her beloved father in her mid 20s; fought for human rights always, including as a career during the first few years after law school; built a community around the neighborhood restaurant where she worked for almost a decade; and loved unabashedly her family, friends, partner, pets, and books. Anyone who knew Amy or had the pleasure of following her adventures through her photos and words on social media could see how happy she was in recent months. She wasn’t one to sugar coat her life for public consumption. But perhaps her heart finally became too full. Her physical heart gave out on July 2, 2024, weeks before her 37th birthday and the start of a new chapter. Amy was an independent, precocious, and confident child. After she spoke with one of her many great uncles for an elementary school report on someone she admired, he remarked frequently how astute her questions were and how poised she was as she conducted the interview. Her intelligence gained her admission to one of the top high schools in the country, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, where she intimidated some classmates not only with her wicked smarts but with her choice of vehicles. She adored her decommissioned hearse. It was a fitting emblem of her sense of the macabre, an appreciation she may have gained from early brushes with death but which may also have been a birthright. After high school, Amy attended Virginia Tech, where she enjoyed the rich academic and athletic life and found strength and conviction in the tight bonds formed among students who survived the terrible incidents of April 16, 2007. Shortly after graduating Phi Beta Kappa with degrees in political science and philosophy, Amy moved to New York City to study at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Prior to her graduation in 2012, she began interning at the Sylvia Rivera Law project, where she continued as a volunteer attorney for several years. She embraced the variety of legal work, and it fed her commitment to women’s rights. She said that working for and with trans women, queer women, and women of color helped her become a better ally of all women. In early 2015, perhaps fed up with living among Yankees, Giants, and Islanders fans, Amy returned to the land of fellow Nats, “Washington Football Team,” and Caps lovers. Departing from the law, she took a job serving and bartending at a wine bar in Northern Virginia. She applied a short time later and was hired to fill an opening at Brookland’s Finest, in Washington, DC, where she quickly rose to management and, in 2018, to general manager. At Finest, Amy applied her legal experience to running the small business and drew on her interest in spirits and stories to forge connections with guests, neighbors, and colleagues. Amy’s fierceness and determination helped the restaurant weather the pandemic, and her heart helped it become the center of a community. Amy was passionate about family, friends, books, tattoos, horror movies, banned books, music, Fury Road, politics, books, travel, hiking, books, writing, the Oxford comma, books, women’s rights, baseball, bookstores, football, hockey, books, spirits, Edward Gorey, beer, books, summer afternoons, books, fernet, and oh, so much more. She was excited to plan her next chapter with her partner, Ryan Plasko, his dog, Zora, and her kitties, Tenebris and Nebula. She was full of life and love and heart and fought fiercely until the end. Amy departed this timeline 12 years after her incomparable father, Tommy. She leaves behind her adored mother and sister, Susan and Zoe; dozens of aunts, uncles, and cousins; cherished partner, Ryan; precious pets Zora, Tenebris, and Nebula; a couple thousand books; and hundreds of customers, colleagues, friends, and admirers wondering how to survive in a world so diminished by her loss yet so much brighter for her ever having graced it.