A special connection with the Warrior Princess
A shore visit offered opportunity to watch the sunrise on Bradley Beach Sunday morning.
Here comes the sun never gets old despite the fact that this supreme daily startup has occurred for 4.5 billion years.
We marveled at the kaleidoscope of colors, ocean sounds and discussed our one-more-day life gift while seated on a bench donated by Harvey and Karen Rosenberg, their children and grandchildren.
No restrictions existed as the rest area welcomed all regardless of race, color, gender, etc. All God’s children need perches for perspective.
A person could easily pen a poem to rival Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.”
Stopping by the Beach on a Sunny Morning might begin “Whose bench is this beside the sand .... ”
Another bench remembered Uncle Tony Escalante.
Family members messaged “We all miss you, the voice of reason with a smile.”
Sounds like Escalante lived a life as the cool uncle.
Asbury Park served as our final beach destination. Four hours of relative tranquility until a steady flow of sun chasers made the day seem more like midsummer than early fall.
Walked the boards for about 30 minutes, an exercise that ended with Italian water ice and seating on our final bench.
We stood to leave as my woman friend turned to read a small metal plaque attached to the bench.
“In loving memory of Mya Lin Terry, The Warrior Princess 8/2/02-4/10/13.
Never give up with love, the friends of Michael Terry.”
Unknowingly, we had found comfort on a bench that delivered breathtaking pause. The boardwalk bench notice lies almost directly across from The Stone Pony.
Since no coincidences exist in my life, destiny delivered this meeting with Mya Lin Terry followed by questions about her 10year life and intriguing name tag.
Needed to know more about The Warrior Princess of Oakhurst, N.J. as a Google search produced an obituary.
Terry’s health journey began on October 23, 2007 when a kindergarten teacher noticed her neck appeared swollen, an observation that preceded an eventual diagnosis of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, T-Cell Stage III.
Terry underwent two years of chemotherapy and radiation although physicians identified a
Secondary Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Diagnosis in August 2009.
A medical conclusion explained that this rare form of cancer had been caused by the treatment received for her NonHodgkins Lymphoma.
Remission allowed for a Stem Cell Transplant in November of 2009, however, Mya relapsed in January 2011.
Family members moved treatment from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN.
Travel, treatments, and prayers that matched the total of all earth sunrises continued as family members and friends did all they could to save The Warrior Princess.
Monmouth Medical Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, St. Jude Children’s Hospital served as a Bermuda Triangle as Ms. Terry’s health wavered.
One treatment delivered such toxicity that The Warrior Princess suffered heart, lung and liver failures.
A third transplant and subsequent relapse occurred before Mya Lin Terry earned her wings.
There is something better than this life, after this life, mystical and magical, although one understands why we make every treatment to save loved ones.
To all the family members, friends, doctors and nurses, know that somewhere over a rainbow, somewhere beyond the sea The Warrior Princess waits.
The Mya Lin Terry Foundation is a charitable, non-profit organization created to honor the memory and continue the legacy of her life.
The Foundation supports pediatric cancer patients’ issues and fosters the spirit of giving.
Contact themyalinterryfoundation.org, kellylynnterry@msn. com or send donations to The Mya Lin Terry Foundation, P.O. Box 249, Oakhurst, NJ 07755.
L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Reach him at laparker@trentonian.com. Follow him on Twitter@ laparker6