Vanessa Alonzo

Some people say good things come in small packages. In 1995, January 15, some thing small was given to my family. And that small package was my hero. She was diagnosed with Acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL). But she was a really good cousin and she liked to do the same things that I like to do: writing, singing, playing music, writing music, and drawing. She used to give you some good advice. She was a really trustworthy friend and you can tell her anything. She will understand you and tell you what you are doing wrong. She also loved to play sports.

I wasn’t born yet but this story was told to me. She was born on January 15, 1995. She was eleven months and lived like an ordinary little baby diagnosed with ALL. The doctor around North Hollywood gave her a 8% chance of survival. With the help of her mother and family members she had a chance to live longer. Days passed and the doctor decided that (BMT) was a good way for her to live for a while more. When the doctor went to get the results for the (BTM) he came back and said that she could live up to 6 years of age.

Between those 6 years she would live, she was still the same person and lived liked if she had more than 6 years to live. They went to the beach a couple of times, celebrated birthdays, and had a lot of fun. She had a lot of friends and they all liked to play with her because she knew how to make friends and she also knew how to get along with her friends that she met. I’m not saying she was popular because she wasn’t. She was just about 5 years old, so she had little time left. I just wish that she was here with me because I know that we would get along really well and we will both have a lot of friends because I can get along with my friends and I can make friends easily.

So it was already time and she was at the park playing and then she told my aunt that she wasn’t feeling well and felt like if she was losing her breath. My aunt put her in the car and went straight to the hospital. When they entered the emergency room they took her right away. While my aunt was waiting in the waiting room she called my mom, aunts, and uncles and told them about the bad news. When they found out about the bad news they all came. And when they came the doctor was talking to my aunt and told her that her time was up. When they saw my aunt crying they already knew what happened. All of them were in the waiting room and they were all quiet and crying. Then they went home and told all of her friends and they were all sad because she was a really good friend. Weeks passed and then they invited everyone that knew her to her funeral so then it would be the last time for them to see her.

This is my hero, even if I didn’t get the chance to meet her. But when they told me this story, I was even crying myself. I was actually 3 years old when she died but I was in another country with my dad’s family. Now that I’m older I see pictures of her and I look just like her. It's like if I’m another small package that came to my family but I am living a normal life. This story I’m going to pass down to my kids and they would keep this story going on and on.