Amongst a flurry of emails there usually is one or two that beats the "send it to a million and you'd spawn a million " kinda mail, something that stands out. A mail that one is loathe to delete from the archives.

Just happen to view one such email. Katie Kirkpatrick. Never heard of ever before. Never will forget her ever after.

The ability of Human spirit to rise above pain and achieve what it wants for itself continues to fascinate me. Katie symbolizes the fight inherent in all of us to go beyond issues that stop us. Thats Katie when she was the homecoming queen at Lapeer East High School where she also was a co-valedictorian. the photograph sits on a table in her family's home living room in Metamora.


On Valentine's Day 2002, Katie Kirkpatrick, then a freshman at Rochester College a small Christian college in Rochester Hills, Michigan) was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Undaunted, Katie strove to keep up with her studies, but she suffered another setback in 2003 when she was diagnosed with "an inoperable lung tumor wrapped around her pulmonary artery.

However Katie did not allow that to stop her from celebrating one of the happiest days of her life. She was in love with Nick Godwin since 11th grade. The fact that is that we can rise above adverse circumstances. It always is about how much one gets and what one can make out of it. Katie got what she did but what she did further with it is what makes it all the more special


Katie strode ahead inspite of the severe pain taking morphine and numerous medications to help her. Inspite of suffering from terminal cancer with prolonged medications and multiple organ failures Katie took care of every detail of her wedding.The wedding dress though had to be adjusted a couple of times because of her constant weight loss. Inspite of everything Katie walked down the aisle to marry Nick Godwin, 23, at Church of Christ in Hazel Park on Saturday January 15, 2005.


Five days later, Katie died. She did not let her illness stop her getting what she wanted. She has a wonderful wedding the love of her life by her side. She did not stop living then. She did not stop living now. Incredible that the story has resurfaced again after about 5 years. Her father recently lost his battle against the same illness. However the human spirit or the tales of such live on. All of us have the same human spirit, to look an adverse situation in the eye and strive and attain what we want inspite of our situations. Katie Kirkpatrick is an embodiment of the same human spirit and lives on long after she has gone. I know she will last with me till the time I am. And that i believe is the way that an illness could not stop Katie from attaining love, happiness and share memories with people all over the world.