She had always had her eye on Northeastern University. and according to her mother “it was Northeastern or bust,” for Abby Kathleen Carter, 18, of Chelmsford. Ms. Carter, however, was unable to fully experience college life at Northeastern. She died from a seizure on Sept. 12, after only a taste of life at her dream school. “I knew how much it meant to her to go to Northeastern,” said her mother, Kay Carter. “I think it would have been a good fit for her. Once she got accepted, it was Northeastern from then on.” The brunette, who would often imitate a movie star by cocking her head, smiling and saying, “You love me …” was described simply by her mother, as a “spitfire.” Ms. Carter was an active gymnast, competing at the state level and on her high school team until a knee injury forced her to stop freshman year. It was after that she began working with high school trainers and became interested in physical therapy. She hoped the advanced internship she did during her last year of high school would be her key to Northeastern. In the wake of her death, Ms. Carter’s high school, Chelmsford High, set up a Web site at lanchelms.com/abby, where her former classmates, teammates and friends could view pictures and relate their stories of Ms. Carter in her memory. “I knew Abby as a coach, co-worker and then a friend,” Tracy Borletto, a former teammate of Ms. Carter, wrote on the site. “When I first started working at All Star Gymnastics, there was Abby Carter. She wasn’t there all the time because she was just coming back from a knee injury, but the nights she was, she always came in with that beautiful, huge smile. You could just feel everyone’s mood get a little better the nights she was there.” Ms. Carter was also active in Hand Bell Choir ‘ Youth Choir at West Chelmsford United Methodist Church. “Abby was one of my kids,” Karen Leonard, her choir director, wrote on the Web site. “She started playing handbells in my children’s choir when she could hardly see over the table.” Growing up, Ms. Carter had a close relationship with her older brother, Ryan. Carter said that they were always involved in each other’s lives, and even had a playful rivalry over colleges (Ryan attends Boston University Medical School). She said that the two had a rule about dating: Ryan was not allowed to date anyone younger than Ms. Carter, and she could not date anyone older than him. Even then, she said, the date had to be “approved” by the other sibling. Even in her short time at Northeastern, Carter managed to make some close friends. She had plans to go to a Red Sox game with a group of eight girls that she had met at orientation, this weekend. “I only really knew Abby for her first week at NU but that week was more than enough time for me to know that she was one of the sweetest people I’d ever met,” freshman Bailey Clear wrote on the Web site. “I wish I had had more time to get to know her, get to really know who she was.” Ms. Carter was born in Fairfax, Va., on Nov. 1, 1984, and moved to Chelmsford, Mass., where she lived for 15 years, when she was three. In addition to her mother and brother, she is survived by her father, William; her paternal grandparents, John and Lucille Carter; her maternal grandparents, William and Frances Howard, all of Wash.; and several aunts, uncles and cousins. Visiting hours will be held at the Blake Funeral Home in Chelmsford on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. A memorial service will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at West Chelmsford United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Town of Chelmsford Scholarship Fund, Inc.

— Staff writer Heather Allen contributed to this report