It seems that as I get older, I attend more funerals. I guess the longer we live, the more people we get to know.
When someone lives to 80 years or older, I am hopeful they had a good life.
But, when we lose a young person, I ask myself why.
#GABBYSTRONG
This past Wednesday, October 9, 2019, our family attended the celebration of life for Gabriella ‘Gabby’ Lou Brown at Serenity Hills Pavilion in Preston, Minn.
Gabby Brown was born September 20, 2017. Shortly after her first birthday and baptism, she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia, a blood cancer that starts in a person’s bone marrow.
Exactly 15 days after her second birthday, on October 5, 2019, Gabby “passed away peacefully in her mother’s arms surrounded by family,” according to her obituary.
Her parents, Matt and Heidi Brown, did everything they could to help her battle this rare form of cancer. They took her for treatments at Mayo Clinic in Rochester and at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. And, all while running their restaurant, Estelle’s Eatery & Bar in Harmony, and raising their two other daughters Stella and Gracie. Matt and Heidi have had their hands full.
At the celebration of life for Gabby, two of her uncles, Jay Harstad and Mike Brown, bravely stood before a teary-eyed crowd of more than 500 people to share stories about their niece, express the feelings of the family, and talk about how Gabby’s strength brought everyone together.
That’s what Gabby Brown did. She brought people together over the course of her short time on this planet.
As Jay Harstad said, Gabby’s illness brought the Harstad and Brown families closer together.
The entire Fillmore Central School District rallied behind Gabby and her family. The community showed their support in so many ways. And, it wasn’t just Harmony. Surrounding communities, near and far, did what they could in their own way.
Four sixth grade boys organized a 3-on-3 basketball tournament in Chatfield in March of 2019 to raise money, in part, for Gabby.
There were orange wristbands and t-shirts created with the message “Gabby’s Got This!”
Billboards with Gabby’s picture have appeared all over Rochester, Minn., throughout her battle and even during the day of her celebration of life ceremony.
At Gabby’s celebration of life, among the crowd were Winona State University alumni, where Matt and Heidi attended college. And, of course, the crowd was full of Fillmore Central students, teachers, and other faculty. People from Harmony, Preston, Lanesboro, Fountain, Canton, Mabel, Chatfield, the Twin Cities, and many more.
People came from everywhere to honor the life of Gabby Brown.
Undoubtedly, there were a lot of tears shed as Pastor Rolf Svanoe shared his message.
“We will all be asking ourselves why did this happen.” Pastor Svanoe talked about how people showed their support by wearing orange shirts and wristbands with the message “Gabby’s Got This!”
Pastor Svanoe concluded his message with “God’s got this. God has Gabby now. God’s got this.”