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Desmon Rowley

by Rebekah from Spanish Fork

Georgette Rowley ()
Georgette Rowley ()

The Hero in my life is my amazing cousin Desmon. She was a great example to me. Her motto in life is best expressed in the song "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus. Desmon is my hero because she taught me to live life one day at a time.

On our drive to Arizona we were talking about what we remembered about Desmon. Desmon had the sweetest spirit! She would always be happy and playful. Her attitude about life was always positive. Dezy and I were very easily entertained and could enjoy almost anything. We were pretty much sisters.

Desmon, Richard, McCoy, and Brock Rowley (Georgette Rowley ())
Desmon, Richard, McCoy, and Brock Rowley (Georgette Rowley ())

I remember how we would always have sleepovers and dance competitions between the two of us. She was one, if not the most fun, amazing, loving, bubbly, and crazy (in a good way) person in the world.

  Her sweet spirit was only with us for a short time. Desmon's health started declining when she was born. At age eight she was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease. She dealt with that for her whole life. Desmon and I still had our sleepovers and dance parties even though she was sick.

  Around Christmas time, my family had a get together, and there we were told that Desmon was diagnosed with Leukemia, Cancer. She was admitted into the hospital. Now I'm not one to cry in front of people, but, I cried my eyes out! I think I cried for three days.


When I went to visit her in the Hospital, I knew she was sick and I knew she was going through Chemo, but if I would not have known, I never would have guessed she was sick. She would bounce on her bed, she would paint all the nurse's nails, male and female, and she would ride kid bikes up and down the halls. She was the craziest patient there. She was always trying to break out of the hospital. Desmon knew she never would "break out" but she had fun trying.


My dear sister Desmon went through five injections of the chemo cancer fighter and overcame cancer! It was gone! After a few weeks she went in to get a blood test and they found her cancer was back. It came back with vengeance. Her numbers were in the forties and climbing higher and higher, her numbers reach 98ish % of her bone marrow. Doctor's will start running around screaming when the numbers reach forty. As of September 5th Desmon had one month to live. She would not make it to her birthday on the 21st of October. When my family and I found out that her cancer came back we jumped in the car and drove to Arizona.


We wanted to spend at least one more day with her. We went and played with her all day labor day, we played fairies, and we put glitter all around our eyes and on our faces. It was so fun! On this trip I could tell that she was more tired and was trying hard to keep her crazy, happy attitude. While we were down there I helped Desmon plan her funeral, it was really hard but I was glad I got to help her with her final wishes. As I left that night, I said see you in the morning. Well that night I was barfing so in the morning I could not give her a proper goodbye, needless to say I didn't get to say goodbye. I was devastated!


Sarah, Rebekah, Desmon, and Bailey. (Georgette Rowley ())
Sarah, Rebekah, Desmon, and Bailey. (Georgette Rowley ())

One of Desmon's biggest wishes was to visit Paris; you must know that Desmon is very good at getting what she wants. A doctor offered to send Desmon and my aunt Nikki, her mom, and the doctor to Paris for the weekend. Desmon's health was declining too much for them to be able to go, so they planned a Trip to Paris Party for Desmon. The party included an Eiffel Tower, berets, French cuisine, a sketch artist, and many family and friends. She was only able to attend for part of the party.

Desmon went into a comatose state and was unable to communicate with anyone. She was in extreme pain and suffering; she struggled for her last breath and finally went 'home'. When she passed she was surrounded by her family and loved ones just like she wanted.

My family got to go to Arizona for the funeral and such. We went down on a Friday and the funeral was on Saturday. At the church where the services were being held, we walked into the area where the casket was. Desmon was so beautiful in her purple casket, white dress, and beautiful tiara. Her face was bruised but she was still beautiful! I walked past the casket and hugged her family, and went to sit down. As I was sitting there crying the little blonde boy in front of me had the program with her picture on it. He said to Desmon's little brother Brock, "I am going to blow on this picture and she will pop up over there in her casket." The little blonde boy blew on the picture and I looked over at the casket and she was still laying there. After the prayer, and the closing of the casket we followed it into the chapel. Desmon's best friend Bailey Draper, Batman, was the first to speak, she spoke of memories that she and Desmon shared. After Bailey, Desmon's mom spoke. Nikki read some of Desmon's journal entrees, then some of Dezy's cousins sang Temporary home.  Next Desmon's Dad, Richard, spoke; he told about how he felt with Desmon as his daughter and then he took the word daughter and had each letter describe something about Desmon. They then showed a movie of Desmon's life, complete with pictures and music.

  The casket carriers took the casket to the horse drawn carriage for the princess. Police blocked off the roads as we followed to the Cemetery. Desmon loved flowers and her mom always wanted to do Desmon's wedding flowers, so Desmon had more than a weddings worth of flowers at her funeral. Nikki's sisters got a rose for every immediate cousin and put a tag on it with their name, so we put that on the casket and it got buried with Desmon. Dezy wanted to be buried under a flower garden so her parents put all of the flowers on top of her grave, and it looked like her personal flower garden. It was so beautiful and special. I am going to miss her so much!

Page created on 10/4/2012 2:14:52 PM

Last edited 10/4/2012 2:14:52 PM

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