Memories :) of 2011

Since this is my last year of moddle school, and I most likely won't be back. I took the time to create an online sort of ScrapBook. I want to share with you the memories of Chrysalis' Graduating Class of 2011, made on that exciting once in a life time trip, to New York City.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Rocky Quote; New Friends

Today I was doing an assignment for my English class. I was looking up a few facts for depression, when I came along this site http://www.depressionhelpfor.com/inspirational-thoughts/ the site has a video on there, and the person who happened to post this video ironically found it inspiring, though the video is about fighting? I didn’t really understand.
Anyway, I watched the video, and there was this one quote that caught my eye. (The one in the pictures) I find that so inspirational, the way its saying, “You have to be able to take what life gives you and not blame others for not being where you could be.” Since ultimately, it’s your life, your choices, and or your fight. No one is really holding you back; no one is hanging on your back not letting you go, it’s up to you to finally say when enough is enough, and get up and away from them so you can move on in life.
I’ve been in situations where You don’t want to lose a friend or someone, because you wonder how will you be YOU without them. That’s the thing; you’re not YOU if “you” need that person to be “you”. So it did take me a while to realize that I never needed that person, especially if they could do something to hurt me that quickly based on not even their own thoughts, but thoughts of others. I am grateful for the new friends I made, they are not what make me, ME but what helps me understand ME.

Also, this qoute was taken from the video on the website, which was taken from the movie Rocky
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Eulogy

My class has been reading a book by the great author Elie Wiesel. Elie is a Holocaust survivor who has written multiple books about his, heartbreaking, experience during the time. In the beginning we learn so much about the life Elie had, and how things rapidly changed in a short time. Towards the middle of the book, details begin to grow; more images of the camps come to mind. Unfortunately Elie loses his father before liberation, and in honor of his father, I have the honor to write a Eulogy .


My father, a man faithful to his country…but blinded when his country turned on their own. When the soldiers first came to our community everyone thought of them as nothing; including my father. When we were required to wear a Yellow star, he told me “The yellow star? So what…it’s not lethal…” Poor him, for that was our first sign of death, which many ignored.
When we came to our first concentration camp, my only thought was “Not to lose him,” and “Not to remain alone.” At that moment I was closest to my father, he was my comfort zone, the one guy I could count on. I know it’s a strange thing to say but how afraid I was of that place was what brought him and me together. We knew the only way to survive was to look out for one another. That’s what we did, he looked after me, and I looked after him.


We had just been given our first meal upon arriving to Auschwitz, and my father had gotten up to be excused. He was struck; and there I stood amazed at what I had just seen. I didn’t help him, and I assure you I am much ashamed, for we both knew if I were to have helped my own father I would’ve been next. And from then on, we had grown farther and father away from each other.
Every time either he or I was struck, we would be upset at one another. Asking ourselves, “Why was he in the way? Why didn’t he avoid them as I?” We started to drift farther away from one another, when I first realized how far we had driven each other apart, was the day he died. He was calling my name, asking me to help, but I was so afraid of S.S soldiers. My emotions had me thinking, “Why couldn’t he defend himself? Why did he need me?” His last words were my name, I didn’t respond for that’s how far apart in relationship we had been. I didn’t shed not one tear then, but now I shed millions everyday for not saving him; my father, a man faithful to his country…but blinded we his country turned on him.

I am Awesome

Mr.Stocker is Awesome

Katie

Katherine “Katie” Murillo Meza
A daughter, mother, wife, sister, and a great friend
Katherine became a mother at a very young age. On one of her routine checkups, she was found to have an abnormal papsmear. After several tests she was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the very young age of 16. Because it was caught it in time, it was treatable. The operation performed on Katherine was a conization, which in her case stopped cancerous cells from spreading. The first step doctors took after the operation was to have Katherine checked, for any other signs of cancer, every 3 months per year and were later done every 6 months apart. Because of Katie’s young age, she did not understand the seriousness of this disease. Katherine wasn’t very concerned about having cancer. Even though her father died of cancer, she wasn’t aware of the seriousness. So Katherine took her diagnosis lightly, given that she was told cervical cancer was easy to treat, she never realized how severe her condition could have been. She could have died had it not been found early. This vibrant and very special friend of my family has been cancer free for 31 years. Katherine is now 47 years old and full of life. Since her diagnosis she has been having routine check ups and will continue to have them. While cervical cancer used to be a common cause of cancer deaths among women America, it is now much less common. In 2009, the United States approved a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer in young ladies. It is not a mandatory vaccination, but a very highly recommended one. Cervical cancer is a very treatable disease if caught early and a very preventable one if vaccinated against it! Thank you Katie for bringing awareness to all of us about this disease. I love you.

Nelly Echeverry

A mom, a sister, and a fighter

Nelly’s story begins during Hurricane Ike in 2008, at the age of 64. She began to experience some pain in the abdomen. When she was originally seen by doctors, they informed her son Christian that she had 1 month to live. After more tests were performed, she was given a proper diagnosis and only 2-3 months to live. Nelly was diagnosed with High Grade Neuroendocrine cancer in the Liver. This type of cancer, consist of cancerous hormone producing cells that form a carciniod tumor. Nelly was strong and fighting her battle. With the support of her family, she was full of hope and convinced that everything would be okay. Her son Christian was with his mother through chemotherapies, sleepless nights and doctors visits. In November of 2008, Nelly was taking painkillers as part of her medication. These painkillers caused her to stop eating regularly. Doctors feared her not eating and continuously vomiting would cause blood clots. These blood clots caused her legs to swell and put her in serious danger of a stroke, which could lead to an early death. Doctors were amazed that Nelly had survived this long. In January she seemed to be doing better, she was active and was enjoying normal day chores. In March Nelly was informed that nothing could be done for her cancer, no one had any answers and there was no cure. She was put on a lower dose of medication and decided to move in with her sister. Nelly’s body had begun to get weak, unable to talk or walk. By June a nurse was assisting her at home with her care, being the strong-independent women that she was, Nelly did not like the idea of a stranger helping her. Due to her unbearable pain, the pain medication dosage was increased. She had become restless and scared to sleep, afraid of dying. Family and friends tried to keep her as comfortable as possible. Unfortunately Nelly lost her battle on August 16, 2009 at 3am in the company of her dear son Christian, family and friends. Thank you Christian for sharing your story and I am deeply sorry for your loss

Manuel Murillo

Manuel V. Murillo

A father, a brother, and an uncle.

Manuel was a healthy-bodybuilder at the age of 47. He had the passion to become a musician, and was very cautious of what he did and ate. One day going to the doctor for back pain, they found cancerous cells had developed in his digestive system, causing Manuel to be diagnosed with gastro intestinal cancer; it was a surprise to the athletic 47 old man. Manuel cared much about his family, so to not worry them he didn’t let them know until a year after trying to fight the cancer himself. He had seen his father die of cancer and feared dying the same way. After 1 year of chemotherapy with no positive results, Manuel decided to tell his family He continued to be optimistic and did 1 more years of treatments. In January of 2001, he was hospitalized due to the intense pain and high fevers. After one month of treatment, the doctors where able to stabilize him enough to take him to surgery, to see if there was anything they could do to relieve him of his pain. It was then when that they realized that there was nothing they could do for him. As a result of his exploratory surgery, the doctors could not close his stomach back. For the next 2 months his stomach remained open. His cancer was too advanced therefore he could not eat or digest anything. Towards the end Manuel still had high hopes of a miracle happening. Sadly he lost his fight in 2001 at the young age of 49. “Mannie” is greatly missed by his loving family, especially by his sister Katie, whom was kind enough to share his story. Thank You.

Eusebio “Figgie” Figueroa

A husband, a brother, and a grandfather

Eusebio Figueroa was born on September 20, 1936 in Puerto Rico. He married my dad’s mom in 1977. He made his living as a chief pump man on tankers, also known as large steam ships. My grandfather was a heavy drinker and smoker for many years. Up until the age of 60 he was considered a healthy man. At the age of 61, he was found to have high blood pressure. In 2003 my grandfather made a trip to Puerto Rico to attend his brother’s funeral, which had died of a heart attack. During this trip Eusebio became disoriented and was admitted to the hospital. At this time he was released from the hospital and returned to Houston, where he admitted himself to Methodist Hospital. Figgie had trouble eating and was vomiting frequently.
The doctors at Methodist could not determine what was wrong with him, so they did exploratory surgery; it was then that they diagnosed him with Pancreatic Cancer in September of 2003. The cancer was too advanced for any kind of treatment. They gave my grandfather 3 months to live. My grandfather continued to smoke and drink regularly. Figgie deteriorated fast and only survived 2 months. He never complained of any pain but was given morphine on his final days by the hospice nurse. Grandpa “Figgie” lost his battle on November 21, 2003. My grandpa was a fighter in the everyday life, but this is not a fight you can always win. I miss you “Figgie”.

Ninfa

Tia Ninfa’s Story

A mom, sister, and my aunt

Ninfa was born July 23, 1938. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of 28, had a partial hysterectomy performed at St. Joseph’s Hospital by Dr. Joseph Lucci on May of 1967. As a result, was cancer free for 31 years, until April of 1998 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer on the right breast. Breast Cancer occurs when a malignant tumor spreads to surrounding tissue lining the breast. At that time she elected to have a lumpectomy on June of 1998 at St. Luke’s Hospital, operated by Dr. Peters. Her treatment consisted of 3-4 months of chemo therapy by Dr. Taobada, her oncologist. My strong willed and heroic Tia, was cancer free for 9 years. But unfortunately cancer returned on September 2007, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer on the right breast once more. This time Dr. Baker removed her entire right breast, at St. Luke’s Hospital on January 20, 2008. Her treatment was continued with radiation during June and July of 2008, by Dr. Carpenter.

Tia continues her battle against cancer with the help of her oncologist Dr. Ramshech. Her current treatment consists of Tykerb and Xeloda, two types of anti-cancer chemotherapy drugs, which she takes 6 times a day. Though her battle has been a long one, my beautiful Tia is determined to be victorious in her battle. Fortunately she is surrounded with tremendous family support; including her daughter, sons, daughter-in-laws, grandchildren, and my grandmother, her sister Francis Luera. I love you very much Tia.

In Honor

This is to inform people about different cancers. 'Cancer' is the name for a group of diseases in which the body's cells are changed in appearance and function. Such abnormal cells can grow out of control and form a mass or 'tumor. These tumors can be benign or malignant. Unfortunately this horrible disease does not target any certain gender, race, or age. Therefore, we are all at risk of this monstrous disease. I would like to remind everyone the importance of being tested early. This can determine the outcome of your prognosis. These stories are to help anyone who might be going through something similar, giving them a reason to keep fighting.

I chose to write about 5 different lives of people affected by cancer. In doing so I would like to honor these courageous individuals on their battle to survive.

Ninfa Luera Gutierrez

Nelly Echeverry

Eusebio Figueroa

Manuel V. Murillo

Katherine “Katie” Murillo Meza

Charms

*CHARMS*

Today I had to hang with my dad's side of the family. My dad and I don't exactly enjoy that very much. Lucky for my dad it was an all girls thing so he didn't have to go. It was a party for my birthday (which was 17 days ago) and they were going to do something special. My grandma had this idea to give me a charm bracelet with 13 charms. We ended up with 15 charms instead which i didn't mind because I'm not sure when I'll wear the bracelet. (my favorite charm was the boxing glove given to me by my favorite Tia. It represents my mom's dad and his favorite thing he loved to do before he passed.)

Don't you hate it when people give you something you don't exactly need or want? That's what I felt today when I thought about this great idea I noticed I don't need a charm bracelet. But after today when I saw how happy everyone was when they saw what charms I got. I decided it wasn't so bad after all. So in the end I laughed with my Tia's, my cousin and my mother just about how the day turned out to be.

Halloween of 09

Who doesn't love Halloween? Halloween to me is the best holiday ever. I think its so cool to dress up and go ask for candy. Some of us claim we don't go Trick' or 'Treating but instead we take are younger siblings, nieces, or nephews. I'm actually not afraid to admit that I like going with my family and seeing how other people go to the extreme with their costumes. I also enjoy getting candy, and scared by people who just randomly come behind and scare you.

This year i did something that's not what I would usually do. I had to watch my sister so i wasn't exactly having fun. So my friend told me, "If your bored take pictures." So that gave me the idea to go up to random people whose costume I thought was cool or scary and ask if I could take a picture with them. My goal was to take 5 pictures with random people I ended up taking 9 or 10 pictures. I can definitely say this Halloween was the best.

My TRIP is here

tomorrow is finally the day that i leave with 7 other people to SAN FRANCISCO. I'm so happy I've been waiting months to go on the plane ride. But I'm upset that i have to sit in a plane for 4 hours. But it's better than driven in a cramped car with 8 people total for 28 HOURS. (don't that SUCK) thank god i ain't doin that. SO I'm excited that tomorrow is the day. we have to get up at 6am in the mornin cuz they got to check our bags and we got to be there 2 hrs early mandatory (kinda) because their so very "Cautious" because of what happened on 9/11. SO i guess thats the only SUCKIE thing bout the trip but. i'm not gonna let that get me down cuz i am so READY for this trip.

MY Weekend

Friday..............i went to go see MY SISTER'S KEEPER (i cried threw the whole movie) It was such a good MOVIE a very SAD movie but very touching. i went to the pool with my family then after we went to my Tia's house to eat, watch t.v and talk. Then around 6 my cousin decided that we were gonna go to the mall. SO we started to get ready. Then once we were in the car we argued bout which mall we were gonna go. to. SO after 10 minutes of fighting we finally just went to memorial Mall or something like that.Then on Saturday was one of the worst days of my life. Cuz i had to clean the yard with my cousin. (IT SUCKED!) Then after we watched movies and stayed up till 5am. Then Sunday i went to go see TRANSFORMERS 2 REVENGE OF THE FALLEN which was bout 3hrs long. SO since we knew that it was gonna packed so we went an HOUR Early we still were stadin in the middle of the line with bout 20-25 people in front of us. and we still only got okay seats. but at least it wasn't all the way in the front row we got the middle rows. The movie was long and kinda funny with a lot of action scenes. SO IT WAS COOL!!!!

FatHer'S Day wEEkEnd YA!!!☺ (♥i lub my daddy♥)

(♥i made this with my dad's favorite colors!!♥ well i think there his FAVORITE colors)

Father's day was cool! we stayed home on friday and watched t.v and slept! (isn't that exciting?!) Then on saturday i went to Splash Town with my friend! It SUCKED cuz she didnt wanna get on anything so i got on the slides with random people! (which was okay.....i guess) Then when i got home i noticed i was BURNED on my back which i thought was impossible espically with all the sunscreen i put on!!! BUT THINGS HAPPEN! Then later on around 8ish i went to a party for my tio. He turned 51 (ain't that nice??) So the party didn't end till 12 in the mornin! Then i woke up at 8am on FATHER'S DAY to go out to eat! ( i'm like really really FULL!)then i came back home waitin 4 my Tio to come to get his FATHER'S DAY gift! Then after he left we went to go see THE PROPOSAL (which funny but also kinda SAD!!) Then after that we went to go see THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123 (which was notin that i excpected but it was still a good movie!) And i think thats all I did for today! YA THAT'S ALL!!!

My Sister's birthday WEEKEND

CHARLIE!!!! SEE HE'S SMALL

THE COWGIRL CAKE !!! :)

On Friday was my sister, Cassidy's, birthday she turned 6! YA!! So on Friday we went to the movies 2 go see IMAGINE THAT. It was kinda sad but it was also really funny. I think my sister liked the movie to. so then on Saturday we chilled went out to the store. And watched movies at home. Then on Sunday we had her party and I had fun so much fun. We swam, rode on a train, and played in a barn full of hay. And when we were swimmin some KRAZY,life guard lady, made us get out because it was time for her party people to swim. So we complainded and so did some other people. SO we got a lifeguard fire. (I'm kinda sad but she was KRAZY. So she deserved it.) Then as a birthday gift for my sister my Tia, Tish, got her a dog. Which they named CHARLIE,he's kute but kinda to small. ANd her cke was pertty cool. ANd she got a lot of gifts and toys for the dog. Well that was my weekend. Oh and i missed Monday because i was tired. :)

My weekend!!!

on friday (that's my cusion) shhhhh! she dont know. :)

At austin so on Sunday

My weekend was okay. On Friday I went to a party for my Tia. I had fun! Then around midnight i decide to spend the night at my Tia's house with my cousin. We stayed up till about 5am. Then I got up about 9am and went back home. Then around 11am I left to my friend's house and slept over, we didn't go to sleep 'till 4am. Then we woke up at 6am and packed the car for a trip to Austin. Once we got to Austin we decide to go see the capital. Then we dropped off my friend for some camp. And then we drove back to Houston and that was my weekend. 'N now i'm really tired