This morning I woke up with a headache and sore throat, so I seriously contemplated skipping class and staying home to look at pictures and watch videos of my angel sister, Celia, since today is her birthday. Then I started thinking about the last few days of Celia’s life. Last year I spent the night at her house the night before her birthday, and — as I often do — I read late into the night. The next morning, I woke up groggy and grouchy because I hadn’t had my eight hours of sleep. Celia had stayed up pretty late, too, and she woke up with a headache, an occurrence that had been way too frequent those days. Celia asked if I wanted to go to church with her family, but I decided I’d sleep a little longer and count going to my nephew Josh’s blessing later that day as my church attendance.
Tag Archive for 'Celia'
The overblown, schmaltzy strains of Queen’s “We Are the Champions” filled my ears as I stepped through the doors of the 73rd floor of the Columbia Center in downtown Seattle. I had just climbed 1,311 stairs — 69 floors — in Seattle’s tallest building to help raise awareness and money (by the way, you still have time to donate) for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, but I didn’t feel like much of a champion. The first 60 floors of the Big Climb were pretty easy as I kept a steady, gentle pace floor after floor. But when the bracelet Maria gave me the day of Celia’s funeral snapped in half after catching on my pocket, I just wanted to be done, so I raced up the last nine floors. I was a sweaty, breathless mess by the time I got to the top, and I had awhile to wait while Meg caught up with me. Thinking time.
I’ve been thinking about doing this post for a long time, and I really don’t know why I’ve been putting it off. The past several months have been really hard for me — I think I’ve cried more since March than I did my entire life up until then. But I’ve also had a chance to reflect on how blessed I am, and so, in no particular order, here are a few of the things I’m thankful for: Continue reading ‘Blessings’
As many of you know, my sister Celia passed away May 16 from complications related to Acute Promyelotic Leukemia (M3). During her short stay in the hospital, Celia received numerous transfusions of blood products. In Celia’s memory and in gratitude to the people who gave blood that was used in her treatment, my sister Maria has organized a blood drive in Joseph City, Arizona, on Aug. 10. If you can make it to the blood drive, sign up at www.BloodHero.com. We are planning on organizing blood drives in other cities as well, and information will be posted on CeliasCircle.org and on the Celia’s Circle Facebook group.
My family has a goal of having 500 blood donations made in Celia’s memory in 2009, so even if you can’t make it to one of the memorial blood drives, please donate at a blood center or blood drive near you and e-mail info@celiascircle.org to let us know about it. I’m planning on donating three pints this year, so that leaves just 497 to go. Let’s make it happen!
My older sister Celia died last Saturday after a short but intense fight with leukemia. She was diagnosed with the disease a week and a half earlier. Because the type of leukemia she had was supposed to be very treatable, my family was optimistic that our sister would pull through. However, Celia’s body didn’t respond well to the chemo that the doctors started her on, and her organs began to shut down a couple of days after she began treatment. After a bad reaction to dialysis, Celia developed a brain aneurysm and never woke up after that. I’ll miss her more than I can ever hope to express.
Those of you who knew Celia know what an amazing person she was. Those of you who didn’t know her, I wish you could have. She was smart, funny, kind — everything a big sister should be. She encouraged my love of reading even before I could tell an A from a Q. We had a deal that I could get in bed with her at night and she would read to me if I let her put her cold feet on my legs to warm them up — I still think I got the better end of that bargain. She always made up original games for me and my brothers and sisters to play, and she came up with the best characters for playing make-believe; Old Dame Dob and Gretchen von Klutz were two of my favorites. Unfortunately, neither of those characters ever made it into any of the numerous family plays she wrote and directed. The audience (Mom, Dad, grandparents) always seemed to love those plays, even though the acting was far from Tony-worthy.
As we grew older, I loved spending hours talking to her. Often when I’d visit her, we’d stay up talking and laughing (she was always laughing — one thing I loved about her) until 2 or 3 in the morning. Then she’d get up at 6 the next day to make sure her kids had everything they needed to make it to school prepared and on time. And she was always cheerful doing it. She was one of my best examples of love, compassion and selflessness in life, and I’m eternally grateful for the time I’ve spent with her.
Update: Here’s a slideshow from Celia’s funeral.
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