A Day To Remember

                

T'was the day January 6, 2000 my cousin Olivia Mary Medici was born.  She was my Mom's brother's daughter.  She weighed exactly 7.1 ounces and when she first smiled, it was a bright and infectious smile.  In the first twenty months of her life, she experienced many ear infections, two sets of ear tubes and she also had to have her tonsils removed.  Olivia still remained a very happy girl even with her small troubles.  I can remember all of the days that we played together in her Oregon backyard.  At the time, I was the only person in her age range in whom she wanted to play with, and it filled me with joy.  When Olivia was in between the ages of two or three, she had her third set of ear tubes, she saw a hearing specialist weekly and also met with a speech specialist.  Her whole life so far was a big maze with no end.  Olivia wowed all of her specialists with unique methods of hearing and listening.  Then one day, Olivia's nightmare became a reality.  On November 16, 2004, Olivia was diagnosed with MPS Sanfilippo Type A.  For those of you that do not know what Sanfilippo is, Olivia was impacted by MPS Sanfilippo, Sanfilippo does not differ much from other MPS disorders.  As cells in our body die, they are processed and digested by enzymes.  Olivia was missing an enzyme essential to processing and digesting these dead cells.  Because the dead cells cannot be processed, the body stores the cells it would otherwise digest in soft tissue organs and muscles throughout the body.  As enough cells are stored, the impacted organs begin to slow down and eventually shut down.  You probably know what happens next when I say "shut down", but you don't.

 Annalee Medici, Olivia's mother, came across a doctor named Dr. Joanne Kurtzburg.  Dr. Kurtzburg had thought she had found a way to give treatment to Olivia.  The Medici family immediately flew to the Duke University in North Carolina to undergo the treatment.  If the treatment was completed properly, Olivia would be the 15th child in the world to undergo treatment for Sanfilippo.  Although, Dr. Kurtzburg was unsure if Olivia would ever recover from what she was currently suffering from.  Then, that tragedy day came.  Today, at 9:04 am on November 12, 2006 Olivia peacefully passed away in Annalee's arms, and hummed to her the many nursery rhymes that Olivia loved to sing.  Even today, we still remember Olivia, and all the ways she enlarged our hearts.  Whenever I look up in the sky, I see her.  Bright and clear through the thick clouds.  Thank you Olivia, for being a big part of my life.