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Tuesday, August 10, 2010

An Exceptional Individual

Alright, I am going to pick up where I left off, which was two Thursday’s ago. I already told you that I bailed on my summer graduate work two days early, but I didn’t tell you why, so here it is. I finished early so I could go to a party.

Not just any party, a princess party. Enter, the princess.



Nicole is my friend (and my best friend Stacey’s cousin.) She is 20 years old. She was first diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 12 years old. She fought it for two years, went into remission for 4 (ish) years, and found out it had returned just after graduating from high school. For the last 2 years, she has undergone numerous hospitalizations, surgeries, and experimental chemotherapy.

Recent complications have negatively influenced Nicole's prognosis. On July 14th, she was told that she would have somewhere between 4 weeks and 6 months left, depending on how fast the tumor continued to grow.

The thing about Nicole is that she is the strongest, bravest, most vivacious person I know. People cannot help but fall in love with her. Case in point, the princess party.


In light of the news from her doctors, Nicole has spent the last four weeks doing things she loves and hitting some milestones early that she is unlikely to get to on a more traditional timeline. For instance, a few weekends ago she had a 21st birthday party. [photos courtesy of Stacey, but probably taken by Karla]







The following week, Nicole went with Stacey to a bridal fitting (Stacey is getting married next summer) to see Stacey in her dress and to try on some dresses of her own (another early milestone.) Nicole found a dress that she loved, wore it around the store, smiled, laughed, and generally had a good time in it, and then went home.

The next day, Stacey got a phone call from the manager of the store. She and some of the girls who worked there wanted to buy Nicole her favorite dress. They also offered their talents to do Nicole’s hair and make-up if she wanted to have a party to show it off (which she did.) Thus, the idea of the princess party was born.

As word got out, the party evolved into an extravaganza. The bridal shop’s photographer offered to shoot the party, the bridal shop (Bridal Exclusives) offered to feature her on their website, a videographer volunteered to take footage, and three different bakeries donated sweet goodies. Nicole invited tons of friends and family (who also brought food and desserts) and a celebration of epic proportions was created. On the day of the event, channel 12 caught wind of the party and sent a reporter out to cover it. Here are some of my favorite photos from the night.

The princess and her family



Her adoring fans (over 150 people came!)



The cupcakes



The Princess and her mom (Karla)



The Princess and I [Courtesy of Ali]



It was an amazing night and everyone had a great time. Stacey, Karla and I finally helped Nicole out of her dress just after midnight.

If you want to see images and video from the party, check out the channel 12 story on Nicole, the photographer, Rebecca Dryer's slideshow, or her blog post about the event. If you want to read more about Nicole's fight with cancer, check out her blog. If you want to see Nicole in that beautiful dress one more time, check out Bridal Exclusive's featured bride page.

Seriously, I dare you not to fall in love with this girl.


On a side note, August 28th, Nicole and her posse of family and friends are participating in Portland’s annual Brain Tumor Walk. Nicole’s team is called the Midnight Angels. If you want to help out a great cause, sign up and walk with us, or make a donation to Nicole Callaghan (as an individual.)

Here are some pictures from last year’s Brain Tumor Walk [courtesy of Stacey]. So fun!





3 comments:

  1. Best blog post ever!!! You did a wonderful job at telling the story!! It was one heck of a party :)

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  2. Kristi... brought tears to my eyes! you are wonderful writer and an even greater friend to stacey for being there through all of this. Cant wait to see you soon :)

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