Kelsey

I wrote an article today about Kelsey, a girl from a local town who died from an inoperable brain tumor in January of 2003. She has a twin sister, Kourtney, and an older sister Casey. Kelsey was apparently very angry and aggressive up until the time her mom took her to the hospital. When the doctors confirmed that she had a brain tumor, they gave her six months to a year to live. Her aunt Pam told me that the little girl ended up dying six weeks later. She was only nine years old.

Listening to Kelsey's aunt and sisters talk about her really moved me. This family was already struggling from a divorce when this terrible news of Kelsey's condition hit them. According to Pam and to Kourtney, Kelsey had been smaller and more sickly since both girls were born. Yet, it is heartbreaking to think of a 9-year-old having to comfort her father as he carries her out of the hospital.

Kelsey and Kourtney were identical twins. Pam said that when the girls were babies, they were very hard to tell apart. They each had their own bottles. When she would offer the wrong bottle to one, the baby would shake her head and point to her twin. They were a remarkable pair and were inseparable in many ways.

Now, Kourtney is on her own. She lost her sister at such a young age, but she and Casey are absolutely unwilling to forget about Kelsey. They want to let others know about what Kelsey went through. They want to fight cancer through every avenue possible, such as participating in the 2009 Relay for Life in her honor. Both sisters see how fragile life is. As Pam herself said, "No one will be able to truly know how this little girl feels. She has lost her other half."

When I asked Casey to describe Kelsey, she just chuckled. "Awnry," said the older sister. "Kelsey was annoying. But she had a good heart, and she loved animals and children. She gave away her money to people at gas stations. She always tried to make us laugh."

Pam remembered how Kelsey had a giving heart. "A week before Kelsey passed on, the American Legion held a 50/50 drawing in her honor. By this time, Kelsey had suffered a stroke, so she couldn't talk or walk. But she pulled the tickets out of the bucket and would hand the winner to one of the speakers to announce. She pulled out a ticket with Pattie's [a close family friend] name on it. She tried to yell, but she couldn't. Instead, she said, 'Pattie won!' When Pattie got the check, she told Kelsey that she would split the check with her. Pattie took $100 and gave the rest straight to Kelsey. Kelsey then turned around and gave the rest of the money to her sister for a new computer. The baby girl died a week later."

As Kourtney and Casey go on without their sister and Pam without her neice, I think it is important for us to remember that we are blessed to be alive. I know it sounds cheesy, but there is truth to it. This little girl died within two months of the announcement. She suffered much as she went, but she also spread much love. Her family will never let her family go, in life or in death. I only hope that I am able to make such an impact on another person's life in my short stay on this earth.