MAKE A WISH
In memory of my sister Heather I am raising $6,000 for the annual Make a Wish Zoo Walk at the Cleveland Zoo. It costs roughly 6k to grant a wish these days and I would LOVE to give back to a local family the way my family was so blessed to spend that amazing week in Hawaii with my big sister :)
Here is some background to my sisters journey. When my older sister Heather was 12 she began to complain about a pain on her left knee. Being a soft ball player the doctor just assumed she had pulled a muscle. After going for a second opinion our family found out the devastating news. Heather had bone cancer. That winter Heather went under chemotherapy and had her leg amputated up to her mid thigh. She and my mother spent alot of time in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan's children's hospital that year.
After a sudden downsizing at Dow Chemical our family decided to pick up and move back to Medina where my dad had grown up, had a job and we had originally lived for a few years prior to moving to Michigan.
Heather still underwent treatment at Rainbow Babies in Cleveland :)
While on remission Heather was approached by The Make a Wish Foundation and her wish was to go to Hawaii!
That summer our family braved the 239483209 hour flight over the Pacific to the most beautiful place on earth. Oahu was very good to our family. Heather got to train a dolphin, I danced in a Luau, we drove around the WHOLE island, my dad loved the DOLE Factory. We climbed a volcano, Diamond Head and went snorkeling! It was gorgeous there! And some of my very last memories of my big sister.
The following year the cancer returned in my her lungs and she did under go surgery to remove the tumors but there were to many to get them all out. She had the hardest time breathing and one day, her first day of her sophomore year, she was having the worst time trying to breathe. That night she went to the hospital and never came home. August 30th 1995. This year will be 15 years since she has been gone. Also on August 6th would have been her 30th birthday.
I can't explain the pain I have felt these past 15 years. Being 11 when she died, I didn't understand the reality that I would never see my big sister again in this life. As I have gotten older and my mind has matured the pain has deepened.
Heather was a selfless individual. She was strong and fiercely independent. At the ages of 12-15 she underwent way more than most in their life times. I have yet to come across anyone as grown up as her at that age. She was brilliant, always an A student, and she LOOOOVED kids. Especially infants. She worked in our church nursery. She loved it. She wanted to be an attorney for children when she went to college, at the University of Michigan. She loved to keep stats for my dads baseball team and the guys loved her too. She was the light of my grandparents lives and my moms shining star, but above all she was and is the BEST big sister that ever lived and not a day goes by that she doesn't cross my mind..who she'd be today :)
Please support me in granting a wish in support of my sister :)
In memory of my sister Heather I am raising $6,000 for the annual Make a Wish Zoo Walk at the Cleveland Zoo. It costs roughly 6k to grant a wish these days and I would LOVE to give back to a local family the way my family was so blessed to spend that amazing week in Hawaii with my big sister :)
Here is some background to my sisters journey. When my older sister Heather was 12 she began to complain about a pain on her left knee. Being a soft ball player the doctor just assumed she had pulled a muscle. After going for a second opinion our family found out the devastating news. Heather had bone cancer. That winter Heather went under chemotherapy and had her leg amputated up to her mid thigh. She and my mother spent alot of time in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan's children's hospital that year.
After a sudden downsizing at Dow Chemical our family decided to pick up and move back to Medina where my dad had grown up, had a job and we had originally lived for a few years prior to moving to Michigan.
Heather still underwent treatment at Rainbow Babies in Cleveland :)
While on remission Heather was approached by The Make a Wish Foundation and her wish was to go to Hawaii!
That summer our family braved the 239483209 hour flight over the Pacific to the most beautiful place on earth. Oahu was very good to our family. Heather got to train a dolphin, I danced in a Luau, we drove around the WHOLE island, my dad loved the DOLE Factory. We climbed a volcano, Diamond Head and went snorkeling! It was gorgeous there! And some of my very last memories of my big sister.
The following year the cancer returned in my her lungs and she did under go surgery to remove the tumors but there were to many to get them all out. She had the hardest time breathing and one day, her first day of her sophomore year, she was having the worst time trying to breathe. That night she went to the hospital and never came home. August 30th 1995. This year will be 15 years since she has been gone. Also on August 6th would have been her 30th birthday.
I can't explain the pain I have felt these past 15 years. Being 11 when she died, I didn't understand the reality that I would never see my big sister again in this life. As I have gotten older and my mind has matured the pain has deepened.
Heather was a selfless individual. She was strong and fiercely independent. At the ages of 12-15 she underwent way more than most in their life times. I have yet to come across anyone as grown up as her at that age. She was brilliant, always an A student, and she LOOOOVED kids. Especially infants. She worked in our church nursery. She loved it. She wanted to be an attorney for children when she went to college, at the University of Michigan. She loved to keep stats for my dads baseball team and the guys loved her too. She was the light of my grandparents lives and my moms shining star, but above all she was and is the BEST big sister that ever lived and not a day goes by that she doesn't cross my mind..who she'd be today :)
Please support me in granting a wish in support of my sister :)
Enjoy the pictures!
My mom and sister
me and my big sister :)
In our favorite place, SOUTH HAVEN
first holiday after being diagnosed, such a quiet picture, but says so much
Just arrived in Honolulu!!
training dolphins!
playing with Fergus
my favorite picture of her :) @ Diamond Head
come on you all know you had matching outfits!
