Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

 

A few weeks ago, I started following a Facebook page dedicated to updates about a little girl from my hometown, who was suffering from a rare, aggressive form of leukemia since October.

Rowan underwent a bone marrow transplant and was thought to be cured, when in June, her family found out her cancer had returned.

This little girl had a smile that could light up a room and was pictured in photo after photo with a beautiful smile, despite the hardship she endured with sickness and treatment and from having to essentially live in the hospital for the last several months.

Even though I have never met her or her family,  I could tell from the descriptions from her family and loved ones that she was a brave little girl with strength beyond her years. 

It’s amazing to think about how a person you’ve never had a chance to meet can leave such an impact, but that’s exactly what this Rowan did to me and hundreds of others who learned of her story.

At first I just saw the updates shared on a few of the Facebook pages of some friends, but then I found myself going to check on these friend’s pages regularly to look for updates about this girl. Something about her kept drawing me back to where I eventually decided to like the page her family had set up to see the updates firsthand as they came in.

To my horror, Rowan’s family announced a little over a week ago that she had been transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit and was holding onto fluid. Her liver and spleen were so enlarged that they were causing problems with her breathing.

This problem progressed throughout the week, when on Friday her family announced she was in respiratory failure and that they were doing what they could to make her as comfortable as possible.

I checked back multiple times all weekend, looking for an update from her family. Then Monday morning I woke up and saw a new post that this sweet, young girl had passed away Sunday morning.

As I felt the tears slide down my face, the thought again crossed my mind about how I could be so emotional about someone I had never met but had grown to love in just a few short weeks.

I have always believed that people cross our paths for a reason, and I often try to ask myself when I’m dealing with challenges, “What’s the purpose behind this experience?” “What am I supposed to learn from this?” “How can this experience impact my life for the better?”

Though I haven’t quite figured out what the purpose was for me to read about this brave girl the last few weeks, I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to do so.

She reminded me of the importance of battling challenges head-on with a smile on our face and of treasuring our loved ones.

Any of our lives can change in an instant, so we must make the best of them, despite the challenges we have to endure.

Make every day count.

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.