Do Not Go Gentle

 

My godsister, Cailla's daughter, Teagan.

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light" is what Dylan Thomas said to do in his villanelle, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night, which is exactly what my family's friend, Cailla, did when she was diagnosed with non hodgkin's lymphoma a few years ago.  The cancer had spread to many areas of her body, but Cailla was only in her early thirties with a baby, my godsister, Teagan, not more than a year old at the time, and was a fighter.  She'd competed in many Ironman races over the years and used to race as a pro, and now she was determined to overcome this disease, even when the odds were against her.  She's a wonderful young mother and friend, who got sick far too early, but, just like Thomas instructs people to do, she fought against Death, raged with all she had.  And won!