BY JENNIFER MADRIGAL
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Heartbroken but hopeful newlyweds, Alethea and Michael. (Photo Courtesy: Jill Run Photography)
Back in the day of dial-up Internet and Paula Abdul dance rehearsals on the playground, we met a girl with glasses and curly hair who lived with her brother and grandparents on the furthest street in the neighborhood. She always had her nose buried in a book. Her vocabulary was ostentatious and her personality, vibrant.
Alethea, which I remember thinking was quite the mouthful of a name, joined our little group one summer and things were never the same. We added another character to our little group of pubescent girls who said “like” way too much, and wore double-tongued Reeboks with our stacked socks.
Allie, as we called her, was a bundle of life and nothing about her was the same as we were. She was more animated, more intelligent, wittier, and definitely sassier than any of us, but we loved hanging out with her.
As life tends to go on and people grow apart, friends change, and soon Allie was just another face at school I’d casually say hello to. We remained in contact through Facebook and kept in touch over the years.
Fast forward to a few months ago when I opened my page to see that Allie’s previous fight with skin cancer had returned with multiple tumors which had spread throughout her body. Within weeks her life went from happy to tragic as the realization came way too soon that the twilight of her life was coming far sooner than it should.
So what did Allie do? She chose to live, and live abundantly. She traveled, spent time with her love, Michael, and got engaged. Doctors tried new treatments which bought her some time, but ultimately, the cancer came back even more aggressively and she is now on Hospice.
Michael, heartbroken, reached out in hopes of being able to marry Allie and spend the last moments of her life as her husband. Hundreds of friends – both far and near – came together to throw Alethea and Michael a wedding, so he could marry the love of his life.
The wedding was streamed live, and many of us that couldn’t make it to Portland watched from our homes. I watched Allie give this man the last bits of her young life, and watched Michael swear his love to her. ‘Till death do them part’ never meant so much.
Our Alethea – who we played in the streets of Chino Hills with, whose house we played at, and who we shared great memories with – has touched so many lives. As the end of her life draws nearer, she is LIVING; she is LOVING; and she is showing us all the power of that love.
I’ve always known that a deep and true love is one of the greatest gifts one can receive. If that love finds you when you are young and vibrant, or old and gray, it’s a miracle that it found you at all.
A love like Alethea and Michael’s is rare and should be celebrated and admired. For all who have witnessed it firsthand and from afar, we are changed by it. I share this with you to remind you to take the time to cherish the love in your life.
Say a prayer for my sweet friend, Alethea, and her husband, Michael, as she begins her transition from this world into the beautiful butterfly she will become.
Image may be NSFW.
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