Gabriella's 20th birthday would have been today. She was only 10 years old when she passed away from an inoperable and aggressive brain cancer. Gabriella's life was short but impactful. She was young and small but powerful. Even though she was going through a tough time, she always remembered others and cared about their needs. She helped raise more than $275,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She also helped raise awareness for pediatric cancer research and created the Smashing Wallnuts Foundation with the assistance of her wonderful parents. Sadly, Gabriella passed away before the bipartisan bill created in her name was signed into law in 2014, but her efforts led to the allocation of $126 million for a 10 year program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Listen to Gabriella's Words of Wisdom: "If You Could Have Three Wishes", plus a beautiful poem she wrote with Tattoo Tom Mitchell (who lost his daughter to cancer).
In her honor, please help to raise awareness for childhood cancer and consider making a donation to her foundation Smashing Walnuts which support childhood cancer research.
Happy birthday Gabriella Miller. I will never forget you and your powerful and beautiful soul, and never stop searching for ways to stop cancer. As I started to write this post, I looked at the time in the corner of my page and it was 11:11. It reminded me of you and your love for patterns and made me smile. You are missed but never forgotten. I'm so happy you were born. Your time here was too short, but your impact on the world has been significant.
