Remembering Cristina

Tomorrow (August 10) is the birthday of a dear friend of mine from graduate school, Cristina Manieri.  She would be 35 tomorrow, if she was still here to celebrate with us.  Unfortunately, she passed away not too long after she turned 31 years old.  It has been almost four years since her death and I still think of her often.

Our daughter, Cristina, is named in honor of Cristina Manieri.  It was one way for me to keep her memory alive. Whenever people hear that I have a daughter named Cristina, they always assume that I named her after me.  They think it is cute that I have a junior.  I always stop and tell them that I didn't name her after me.  Then, I get a chance to share with someone about my amazing friend.

Cristina is too little now to understand that she is named after someone.  I can't wait until she is a little older, so I can show her pictures of Cristina and tell her stories about the person whose name she bears.  In some ways, little Cristina reminds me of Cristina.  She has a round face that lights up when she smiles and can be so sweet and loving.  Cristina was always laughing and loved to do things for other people.  In graduate school, I thought she was crazy because she always had students in her apartment until the wee hours of the morning.  She loved to spend time with them and mentor them.  Personally, I valued my sleep a little more!

Another of little Cristina's traits that I attribute to Cristina is her stubbornness.  Obviously, battling breast cancer can make you stubborn.  Cristina never wanted to give up on the idea that there was some treatment or experimental medicine out there that would work for her.  She was always so hopeful about things and I hope that my Cristina will have that same hopeful outlook as she grows up.  I can manage the stubbornness that is keeping little Cristina up as I write this because, while it isn't fun with a toddler, I know that it will help her persevere in her future goals.

Here is a picture of our family with Cristina and her mom the last time I saw her.

Cristina created a shirt at an online store.  I bought one for Emma and Charlotte and eventually it got passed down to Cristina. She is wearing it in this picture.  The back of the shirt had Cristina's words:

"acquire spiritual insight throughout your journey---cancer cannot silence prayer or faith---it may challenge our beliefs---but God sends angels that guide the way during the bleakest moments---HOPE does exist on the gloomiest of days  -- stina manieri"

This is a recent picture of little Cristina. She must have gotten her fashion sense from her namesake.  Cristina always had a love for clothes.  I remember visiting her in Dallas while she had one of her first rounds of chemotherapy and there was laundry all over the place.  We spent half of my time there washing and folding laundry.

Rest in peace, Cristina.  Know that you are missed.