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Gala Honour Loved Ones Lost - February 22, 2010
12th annual cancer fundraiser draws 1,100
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From left, Debbie, Jared, Brennan, and Dave Emon during the 2010 In Honour of the Ones We Love Gala
held at the Ciociaro Club in Tecumseh, Ontario. |
| Photograph by: Jason Kryk, The Windsor Star |
When young Jalynn Emon left this world, as an old soul just nine years of age, she did so with a spirit that is a constant source of inspiration and comfort to her family.
“About 10 minutes before she passed away — in a fairly audible voice, even though she was weakened — she said to us, ‘I know I have to die now,’” her father Dave Emon recalled. “All of us in the room were astounded.
“I felt it was her soul communicating to us that she was OK with her dying and that we should be OK with it, too.”
The outgoing nine-year-old, who attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel school, was diagnosed with inoperable brain-stem cancer in the spring of 2008, and was given a year to live. She died seven months later, on Feb. 28, 2009.
But Dave feels his youngest daughter had a purpose in her short life.
“It’s one of those things I keep falling back on anytime I really get down and sad,” he said. “I think, ‘Wow, there must be something beyond this.
“When you see someone die in your arms, who says something like that as a nine-year-old child, it certainly makes you wonder.”
Jalynn was honoured Saturday night at the Ciociaro Club as part of the 12th annual gala for In Honour of the Ones We Love — an all-volunteer organization that has raised $2 million since its inception in 1997 for cancer treatment and palliative care in the Windsor area. Honoured along with Jalynn this year were Danio Frangella and Mary Solan, also recently claimed by cancer.
About 1,100 people gathered at the ornately decorated Ciociaro Club for the gala, which included touching candle-lighting ceremonies for each of the three honouree families — plus a fourth candle representing all our loved ones who have recently passed away.
Almost 200 people attending the gala were there specifically to honour Jalynn, the little girl with the big heart.
At least 10 of Jalynn’s supporters squeezed into the Emon household over the weekend with Jalynn’s siblings, Brennan, 17, and Jared, 13.
The ceremony, meanwhile, provides family and friends an opportunity to reminisce about a life lost, but a love still burning.
In Jalynn’s case, her time came and went much too fast.
She enjoyed the life of a friendly youngster and excellent student until she started having odd symptoms: feeling weak, having a hard time swallowing food. At first, doctors attributed the condition to allergies, until the morning of July 18 when Jalynn came down the stairs, with her hand curled.
A hurricane followed, touched off by an MRI that found a tumour.
“The next thing we knew, my wife and daughter were in an ambulance on the way to London,” Dave recalled. “Then, that night, we were given the devastating news.”
The Emons set about doing what they could, seeking special medical treatment, but determined to enjoy the rapidly dwindling time with their baby.
Yet, as her time ebbed, her spirit didn’t.
Dave said once she passed some tearful initial days, Jalynn generally kept the family upbeat, even though a wheelchair soon became her mode of transportation.
Jalynn met her idol Celine Dion after a show at Caesars Windsor, a true thrill, but turned down a Make-A-Wish opportunity because she didn’t feel she needed anything. Instead, she wished other kids at her London hospital could go home for a day.
Dave now questions the Canadian health care system.
He and his wife Debbie went to New York and Texas in pursuit of anything that might give their daughter an extra day. He feels frustrated that hospitals do not provide cancer radiation for children in Windsor, and that Jalynn had to travel to London for treatment.
Dave questions his Catholic faith. He even grapples with his concept of God, who he feels did not answer his family’s prayers.
But he remains spiritual, since he said Jalynn — even at her young age — remained positive. Most of all, he said he learned about life and death from his beautiful little girl.
“I certainly don’t fear dying,” said the Windsor dentist.
“If my nine-year-old daughter can do it with such grace and dignity, I think I can do it. I don’t fear what’s beyond anymore. I know it’s OK to die. We all will face it, but we don’t have to be afraid.”
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| In addition to our signature fundraising events, we also host the annual Chilifest, charity pasta dinners and various educational forums. |
| We are also grateful to be affiliated with numerous third party events. |
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