Sunday, October 18th, 2009
Last year I met the most funny and godly person that I have ever known. Rebecca and I met at a mom's group called MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). Rebecca serve as a table leader and I as an assistant table leader. We met at a DGL (Discussion Group Leader) meeting. We clicked right away. I felt as if I had known her all my life. We had something big in common. We both suffered the results of serious illnesses. She was diagnosed with L.A.M (rare lung disease where fluid builds in the lungs) a couple years before I was diagnosed with breast cancer. We understood each other in a very real way. We often wish we had met years ago so we could have helped one another get through the illnesses.
Unfortunately, Rebecca lost her battle with LAM on October 2nd, 2009 a few days before her 31st birthday. I will never forget the day I heard the news. I was riding an exercise bike and a friend called to let me know that she had passed. I was devastated and couldn't catch my breath and immediately got off the bike. I went home and isolated myself the whole day.
At one point my 4 year old asked me if I would be crying all day. Fortunately, when my family and friends heard of the news they sent me many words of encouragement such as:
"I looked at pictures of her and her family with the kids. It helped my kids to understand why I was sad."
"I'm really sorry to hear about your friend"
"Sorry to hear this sad news. My thoughts are with you."
"I'm praying for you too... I know she was a close, dear friend to you. Let me know if there is anything I can do. God is with you today!
"You are such a great friend and prayer warrior. Please be at Peace knowing that Rebecca loved you and how much you mean to her family. I would consider it an honor to have you pulling for me the way you have with Rebecca. Will continue to pray for you today."
"Praying for you as you grieve for your friend. Please let me know how I can help"
"I am thinking of you today!"
"I am so sorry. I am hear however i can be for you."
"So sorry. God bless everyone who's life she touched as they wait for Christ's return and we can all be together again."
" I think she really knows how much you cared. You are a very caring friend and I am sure she felt reassured knowing you cared during her last moments."
I wish I had one more day, one more hour, and one more minute to spend with Rebecca to tell her how much I cared!
Rebecca was in and out of the hospital many times and eventually ended up at Mayo in MN. My MOPS group and I decided to help her and her family by raising money to put towards her medial bills. I immediately offered to be the coordinator of the event. Remembering how difficult it is to get out from under medical bills I didn't want her and her family to have that burden on top of everything else. Below is the information on the fundraiser.
The Rebecca Wallis Fundraiser
Sunday, October 18th 2009
Trinity Church
Hot Dog Roast 12:30pm
Auction/Carnival 2:00 pm
Hot Dog Roast, Chips and Drinks – Located in the Atrium
Come enjoy some refreshments donated to the event by local business owners and managers. All proceeds going to benefit the fundraiser.
Kiddie Carnival – Room 218
Cake Walk, Bounce House, Popcorn, Balloons, Petting Zoo, Games, Face Painting and More.
Silent Auction – Room 218
More Carnival Fun – Room 216
Come bid on some great prizes provided by local business owners and managers.
Rebecca and I talked about how we would celebrate this event when she came home from the hospital. The event was a bit difficult for me because she wasn't there in body however, I know she was there in spirit. Our goal was to raise $7,000.00 to put towards the private plane she had to take from Ingham Regional Medial Center to Mayo in MN. In a conversation Rebecca had she mentioned that the plane ride was going to be $7,000.00. The fundraiser was a huge success and the team raised $7,119.26 for the Wallis Family medial and funeral expenses. I was honored to present a check to Rebecca's husband on November 9th, 2009.
During the process of getting exposure for the fundriaser the Lansing State Journal wrote the following article.
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October 23, 2009
Wallis remembered by many with great love
By MARY JO WHITE
mjwhite@lsj.com
EATON RAPIDS - Any other year Rebecca Wallis' family and friends would have celebrated her birthday Oct. 12.This year, though, they're celebrating the beauty of her life: 30 years of faith, caring and love that ended after a long struggle with a little-known respiratory disease Oct. 2 in a hospital in Minnesota.
"Funny how after you lose someone you loved, every song you hear seems to grab ahold of your heart and squeeze out memories," her husband, Brett Wallis of Eaton Rapids, wrote on his Facebook page.
Those memories, as well as those of his children, 7-year-old Connor and 4-year-old Emily, are helping sustain him. So are the efforts of the local community to help lift the family's financial burden, one of which occurred last Sunday at Trinity Church in Lansing, the Wallises' spiritual home.The event, sponsored by Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS), featured a hot dog roast, a kiddie carnival and a silent auction. It raised over $5,600, all of which will go to help the Wallis family with medical bills.About 50 people volunteered for the event and sponsors for the auction ranged from the Eaton Rapids Photography Club to Preuss Pets, the Harrison Roadhouse and Nuthouse Sports Grill. A dangerous disease It was several years ago that Rebecca first experienced symptoms of Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, otherwise known as LAM, a degenerative genetic disease in which cysts invade the lungs and the lymphatic system. If they rupture, fluid leaks out. Eventually victims have trouble breathing as their lung capacity diminishes. There is no cure yet. LAM research is basically in its infancy, with the involvement of a particular gene discovered only in 1998. The area in Rebecca's chest between the chest wall and her lung would fill up and have to be drained, and eventually she wound up at the Mayo Clinic. She was mostly in the hospital from late last May until her death, according to Brett Wallis, who has been on unpaid leave from his job for close to three months during Rebecca's illness. The coordinator for the fundraiser was Big C, whose 4-year-old daughter, little C, is close to Rebecca's 4 year old daughter and who says she's never done anything like this before. She took on the task because of Rebecca, whom she calls a faith-filled person able to think of others even during her own difficult struggle."She was able to put a smile on other people's faces," Big C said. "I would walk in to cheer her up (in the hospital) and would walk out with a smile on my face. She was the most Godly person I knew." A grace-filled life" Rebecca's attitude was the culmination of a life spent serving others. Her own children, of course, were her primary focus. But she also was a dedicated MOPS "table leader" at Trinity Church. And she was a substitute teacher in several Eaton Rapids schools. Her younger sister, Michelle S. of Stevensville, Mich., says she was "always motherly.""She always wanted to help me out, encourage me," Michelle said Even in
the hospital, Rebecca cared for others. Michelle tells the story of how her sister, when she was told to walk the halls as part of her treatment, befriended an older female patient, talking and praying with her "Even after she had to stay in bed, she used the nurses to communicate with the woman," Michelle said."She was never one to think 'poor me'."It's not too late to donate to the Wallis family. Checks can be written to Trinity Church, 3355 Dunkel Rd., Lansing, MI 48842, with Attn.: MOPS on the memo line. For more information on LAM, log on to www.thelamfoundation.org.
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Rebecca will be missed terribly. I wish I had one more day, one more hour, and one more minute to spend with Rebecca to tell her how much I cared! I know that she is with the lord and is experiencing no more pain and no more tears. Someday I will see her again in Heaven.
Big C
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