I’m not the greatest person or the nicest but when it came down to that little girl I’d do anything to see her smile. Even through the worst of her times Caitlyn had a smile on her face. She was that little girl whose smile could make someone’s day. To know her was definitely to love her. She was very sick though and it was plain to see. Caitlyn had a type of cancer called neuroblastoma for the second time. It was stage four, the worse and final stage. My family had been there for her since the beginning of her journey, for we were going to the same hospital for my little brother Chrystian who had been diagnosed with stage three liver cancer. That single little girl however, was the one who made me realize how amazing life is and how easily it can be torn right from you.


Caitlyn and Chrystian were the best of friends, always hugging when they met and holding hands while they could. Caitlyn wasn’t doing well and we all knew but her and Chrystian. When Golisano Children’s Hospital could no longer help her, she was brought to a special hospital in New York City that had other possible treatment plans. Eventually, she started responding less and less to the treatments and she was sent home to enjoy the rest of her time with family and friends.

Nobody knew or even wanted to know how to tell a four year old that she was going to die. That was the hardest part, sitting there knowing she was dying in front of us and not being able to do anything about it. Everyone was hurting to see her so happy knowing her time was wasting away. I wanted her to be as happy as possible in her final months so I decided to make her a special gift that she would love. It was a treasure box for all of her jewelry, especially for her beads of courage.


I called up my grandfather who is always doing woodwork in his shop and asked if he would be able to help me. He said it wouldn’t be an easy task but he’d teach me how to do it. That weekend, I went out to his house and we sat down to work out all the details. We went to work on it right away. After constructing the chest, I spent almost two days sanding it and didn’t break until it was “smooth as a baby’s bottom”. By the time I had to leave on Sunday, all I had left was the painting and décor. I had already bought paint and knew exactly what I had in mind. I continued to work on it after school daily for almost an entire week. I painted the entire box gold for childhood cancer and used sparkly, hot pink letters to spell Princess Caitlyn across the top. I also gave it a hot pink gem border, painted intricate butterflies all over the sides, and put one large, shiny butterfly on the front. In the end, it was beautiful.


I had my mom call Caitlyn’s mom to figure out a good time to bring it over and she said Saturday that weekend would be perfect. After school on Friday, we went back to the store and bought a basket to put in it as well as pink princess accessories to fill in around it. The basket was complete with everything a little princess could possibly need. Chrystian wanted to make her something special too so I helped him make a charm necklace and a card to put it in with a special love note. Late Saturday afternoon, we left to bring the basket over and stopped to buy her some balloons on the way. Caitlyn’s face lit up when she saw it and she and Chrystian played for hours together. My mom and Caitlyn’s mom were downstairs going through picture of Caitlyn from the recent Cure Search cancer walk we all had participated in. When it was time to leave, Caitlyn and Chrystian didn’t want to be apart. We had to get home though so we said goodbye and waited for the two of them to finish their hugging and blowing kisses.


That day was the best day of my life. I felt different. I was so happy that I was able to do something so special for someone. Then in February she passed away in her mother’s arms. As depressing as it was, I still went to the calling hours. I just had to be there for her mom Mandy and I was. I will always remember that angel for the rest of my life. She taught me so much without even knowing it. Thanks to Caitlyn, I have changed for the better and learned to cherish each and every moment no matter how hard my life may seem.