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Writings Inspired by ...
Susanna DeLaurentis

Carley Kushin Essay
  - by Carley Kushin

Carley graduated from Cheltenham High School in 2004

      From the time I met Lucy, my mind was made up about my career choice.  Although I was only four, I knew that I wanted to help people for the rest of my life.  Lucy became the one playmate whom I would have chosen over anyone.  Because of her bubbly personality, it would be difficult for one to imagine the endless hours of treatment she endured, or the consistent fight she made against her body. Lucy has Cystic Fibrosis. As a child I experienced difficulty grasping the severity of someone with a one hundred percent fatal disease; however, my interactions with her and involvement with her care helped me grow.
 Stays at the hospital, foreign treatments, and endless charity events made Lucy strong-willed and determined and taught me the meaning of life. No one as innocent and young as she should ever have to deal with something as serious as CF, yet it was merely the start of Lucy’s childhood problems. Her younger sister was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma early in life.  From the time she was two until she was ten, Lucy’s younger sister battled with the terrible cancer that eventually claimed her life.  In this time of sheer darkness, when most people would give up, Lucy’s strength and will to go on only shined more. She exhibited ways of coping, ways from which I could learn so I could help her carry on with life and share in her grief.
     She continues living strong and well today.  Her generosity and devotion to the things and people she loves is tremendously admirable.  Lucy’s big heart, along with her ability to survive and continue on with life, has made an everlasting imprint on my own life. Her dedication to survival and making life worthwhile and happy, despite all the pain and hardships she has thus far encountered, has provided many others and me a model on which to base our own lives. Each breath she takes proves to me that there is always something for which to live. Lucy’s legacy of living a meaningful life will hopefully allow me to help others when I become a nurse.