65 Red Roses

A few weeks ago I read about Eva Markvoort, a young Canadian woman who had lost her battle with Cystic Fibrosis and her body's chronic rejection of  a pair of lungs she had received two years ago when she had a double lung transplant.  She was just shy of her 26th birthday when she passed away.

Since I read about her death, I  have spent the past couple of weeks reading her LJ account 65_Red_Roses.  I started reading her blog from the beginning. Let me tell you, it is amazing. I highly recommend people read it. I don't think I can take any part of my life for granted ever again and the phrase, "at least you have your health," has a totally new meaning to me.   If you are interested in reading her blog here is a link to it: http://65redroses.livejournal.com/

It was so interesting to hear Eva's thoughts about her love of life and what her life was like living with a chronic disease.  She was vibrant and creative. She loved life and fought for her life until the very end. In the process she touched countless others whether they be people she actually knew or people she met online through her LJ account.  She posted pictures and videos of herself during her best moments, her worst moments and everything in between. At times you can see how she is a young 20-something just living life and at other times you hear about her struggles and loneliness when she is stuck in the hospital for weeks at a time. Towards the end she was receiving mail from people around the world wishing her well. She started what she called her, "Wall of Love," by putting all her cards and letters and pictures she received on her bedroom wall. She even thanked many people personally for the mail they sent by showing pictures and videos of all of the mail she received . . . until she was no longer strong enough to do so.  One of her important messages was how she was amazed by how she had put her love out into the world and she was receiving it back through the letters of people from around the world. She began to realize that even though she would die that she wouldn't be gone because she would be remembered by the love of the people she had touched.  Between her words and her photos you can tell she was just a beautiful person both inside and out!  I wish I could have discovered her blog before she died so that I could have sent her a card or a letter as well.  

Two major causes that Eva worked hard at was raising awareness about Cystic Fibrosis and the importance of being an organ donor. Friends of Eva's who were film makers made an award winning  documentary called 65_Red_Roses that showed her wait for a double lung transplant. I am going to purchase a copy. You can pre-order a copy of the documentary until the end of May at http://www.65redroses.com/