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A sad, yet inspiring and beautiful story of Katie Kirkpatrick, a 21-year-old, “who did not let sickness stop her from living, take away the hope or faith that made her believe she had a future …“, according to snopes.com. A reminder to all that time is limited, and someday it may just be our last. How are we going to live the last of our days? Are we going to just lie in bed and wait for death to claim us? Or are we going to get up, dress up in our best, get out of the house and live life to the fullest?

Remember that how we continue to live life, is purely our choice. Katie’s choice has inspired me and I hope her choice will inspire you to live the life that you truly deserve! To a friend who lost her life to cancer recently – you will always be dearly remembered.

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A tribute to a beautiful and inspiring soul – Katie Kirkpatrick

On January 15, 2005, twenty-one-year-old Katie—the girl “with a contagious smile and unrelenting optimism” who had been battling cancer for three years—married twenty-three-year-old Lapeer County sheriff’s deputy Nick Goodwin, her high school sweetheart and the love of her life, at Church of Christ in Hazel Park, Michigan.

Photos were taken by Romain Blanquart.

Katie Kirkpatrick and her fiance, Nick, rest prior to their wedding. Katie has terminal cancer and spends hours in chemotherapy. Here Nick waits while she finishes one of the sessions.

Even in pain and dealing with her organs shutting down, with the help of morphine, Katie took care of every single wedding plan. Her dress had to be adjusted several times due to her constant weight loss.

An unusual accessory at the wedding was the oxygen tube that Katie used throughout the ceremony and reception as well. Katie’s parents look on.

Katie, in a wheelchair, listening to her husband and friends

At the reception, Katie had to take a few rest breaks. The pain wouldn’t allow her to stand up for long periods.

Katie passed away just five days after her wedding. Seeing the smile on her face, it was priceless.

Nick said of the wedding and Katie’s passing:

It was wonderful. It was a dream come true. She was the most beautiful angel ever—just caring and selfless, and such an inspiration to everyone. She was always smiling no matter what happened, no matter what news she got. She was as close to perfect as they come.

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Based on a true story … I hope the video below will inspire you as much as it has inspired me!

5 Taiwanese, average age 81

One has hearing problem

One has cancer

Three have heart disease

Everyone has degenerative arthritis

6 months of preparation

Travelling for 13 days around Taiwan

1139 kilometers

From north to south

From night to day

For one Simple reason

What do we live for?

Dream

For ordinary people with extraordinary dream!

Dream Rangers

TC Bank, Taiwan
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Taiwan
Creative Director: Jennifer Hu
Copywriter: Jennifer Hu, Justin Chia
Art director: Leah Chen
Producer: Abby Ku
Director: Thanonchai

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3 day trial on “Match.com” until August 22, 2011.

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Just saw a video of a talent competition from Korea and there is this man who had lived in the street alone for about 10 years, from a young age, selling gums and energy drinks for a living. And yet he moved on bravely; just doing what he likes to do – sing. He not only sings, he touches the hearts of the audiences and the judges. A lot of times, it takes someone like him to remind us of how fortunate we have been and how we may have taken a lot of things for granted. Quoting something from John Gokongwei, Jr., “The important thing to know is that life will always deal us a few bad cards. But we have to play those cards the best we can. And we can play to win!” No matter how hard life may be for you right now. Continue to move forward courageously with faith that one day all will get better; it will surely get better!

It is the same thing; no matter what our situation is today, we can always choose to do the best with the situation and we can play it to win.

Updated, 24 July 2011: Korea’s Got Talent 2011 Semi-Final Week 1

Updated, 13 October 2011: Korea Got Talent 2011 Final

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Follow the journey of a young boy of a three-generation household, as he sees first hand the importance of respecting, honouring, and loving his parents, through the best and the worst of times. What truly captured my heart is the line, “How one generation loves, the next generation learns.” There couldn’t be more true to that line; I learn respect, unconditional love and acceptance from watching how my parents treat their parents.


More Wordless Wednesday

My grandmother taught me a valuable lesson in Patience, Unconditional Love and Acceptance recently. She was admitted in the hospital for more than two weeks. For the two weeks, we took turns to take care of her during the day so that the caregiver could take a rest at home and be back in the evening to take care of her through the night.

Initially for the first 3 nights she was very restless and hallucinating; seeing things and people around her and making noises. There was really nothing much we could do, except to try to calm her down in different ways.

Fortunately she got much better and her mind much clearer after the third day; she could recognise us. However, she was still eating very little and getting weaker. We tried buying her some of her favorite food and cooking what she requested but she was still not eating. The doctor was telling us if she continued to refuse to eat, they would have to feed her by inserting a tube through her nostril down the throat and into her stomach. We were all at a lost and didn’t know what to do except to hope that she would start eating.

Then miraculously she started eating more and more. Soon she regained her strength back. My grandmother is a very strong-willed lady who always want to win. Thus the first thing when she got back her strength, she wanted to go home; the hospital couldn’t discharge her as they were monitoring her blood sugar level (which has been high) as well as her hemoglobin (which has been low). We had to try all ways to pacify her to stay in hospital.

The good news is, she was discharged from the hospital yesterday.

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