Howdy!
I have realized that many people that read this blog probably have no idea why I am doing everything that I am doing. So, I have decided to tell my story.
WARNING!!!! This will be a long post, sorry in advance.
So I want to start with the name sake of Always Smile. His name was Brian Orgill, he was a very close and dear friend of mine even though I didn't know him very long.
He was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, which is soft tissue cancer, on December 7, 2007. This was a few years before I had the great pleasure of meeting Brian.
Here is the story how I met Brian (Most of this was written 3.5 years ago, just a heads up):
It was Spring Break of the '08- '09 school year,
Hope (my best friend in high school) and I were so very excited we had planned
a pool party and couldn't wait for the nice warm weather and hanging out at the
pool. We decided to have our party at the community pool since it was bigger
than the one in our backyard, so we planned the party cleaned the house and we
were all set. The party came and left. It was a ton of fun, after the party was
over we cleaned up then it was time for bed. A couple nights later Hope and I
decided to go back to the pool and get in the hot tub and just hang out and relax.
We weren't expecting anyone to be there because it had been colder that day so
we thought we were the only crazy people to go to the pool when it was cold.
But when we got there, there was a family in the hot tub with 2 boys, one a
teenager and one around 9 a teenage girl and then the parents. So as to not be
rude Hope and we sat on the other side of the hot tub and whispered and talked
to ourselves. We were giggling and just being girls, when I looked up and saw
Brian. I turned to Hope and told her that I thought he was cute. After a while
we were just hanging out we saw the Dad and Tyler (Brian’s little brother) jump
into the big pool. “You guys are crazy" Brian yelled and without even
thinking about it I said "Ya think?" Brain look over at me and
laughed, and introduced him. We told him our names and we talked for a bit then
we decided to jump in the big pool as well. Once in there we were just swimming
around and Brian asked if we were Mormon we said yes and he got a big grin on
his face. We had been talking for a while and that's when he told us this had
been the first time he had been able to go swimming in about a year and a half.
We asked him why that was and he told us he had Cancer. This made my heart sink
he could tell that it upset me and quickly added that he was in remission and
that hopefully it wouldn't come back, we talked for a while then decided that
it was time for us to go. As we said our good bye Brian asked for my cell
number, he’s a fast mover isn't he? So I gave it to him not thinking that I
would really talk to him again, later that night I got a text that said:
"Good night , Teasha." This made me heart happy. :D
I got to know him quite well, at first we just
texted while we were at school. And we got to know each other by asking each
other questions, we talked a lot. I want to say in the first month of knowing
him we sent about 2,000 texts back and forth. :) We learned that we had a lot
in common like neither of us have a high chance of having kids, we had both
been in and out of the hospital more time than we could count and most of the
time our doctors had no idea how to fix what was wrong with us, this only made
us become closer to each other.
As time went on, and the school year came to an end
we didn't talk as much, he lived in Coalville, Utah. He didn't have cell phone
reception there so talking became harder and harder to do. So we only talked
before and after his church block.
Once school started up, Brian had moved to Salt Lake
to go to community college. This gave us the freedom to talk all the time which
we loved. We would call each other and be on the phone for hours on end, it
helped both of us.
When things were not going well with me he would
always get me to laugh and smile and see the good, when I was down on myself
and thought that life wasn't worth the fight anymore, he
would convince me that life is either a daring adventure or nothing,
and if it was nothing then the reason for life wasn't a reason at all, he
restored my faith in the church and got be to be me again. He knew me inside
and out. He knew the good the bad the ugly. He knew everything about me and I
knew everything about him. He was the one person I could turn to for everything
and he could come to me for everything.
On September 15th, 2009, we had one of the saddest days since we had met. Well his cancer had come back. He had to undergo more treatment and more operations. He was hopeful though he knew he could beat it and he wasn't going to get down.
Well, during Thanksgiving weekend, Brian was going
to try to surprise me by coming to Arizona but his little brother ruined the
surprise and when Brian was sleeping in the car ride Tyler took his phone and
told me they were on their way. I became extremely happy because Brian and I
didn't know if we were ever going to see each other ever again.
On the Friday after Thanksgiving Brian said that we
were going to be able to hang out and have fun. I was so excited. I couldn't
wait to see him! As it got latter I was scared that I wasn’t going to be able
to see him, it was around 11 that night when I got the text saying I could come
pick him up, I jumped in my car fasted than I ever have and went to go get him.
I had a hard time finding the house he was at but I soon did. He got into my
car.
So we drove around for a really long time and talked
and laughed and had fun. We couldn't find a good place for ice cream so we
decided to just go to Sonic and hang out there, well it was almost midnight and
got there and a little later they turned the lights off, Brian made a joke that
they were setting the mood for our date; we had a lot of fun. Well we were
asked to leave because it was so late and so I asked him if he wanted to meet
one of my very close friends and he was very happy that I wanted him to meet
her.
We got to Mias house just after midnight, we just
talked then decided to go on a walk. We talked for a long time some funny
things and then some on a more Spiritual level, I have never been comfortable
with talking about spiritual things so Mia and Brian did most of the talking
but I was happy to listen. As it got later, we decided it was time for me to
take Brian home so he could get some sleep. It was 4 by the time that actually
happened. It was the best date I have ever been on. :D
After that weekend Brian and I became even closer until
January of 2010. The cancer was becoming too much for him to handle and he had
to drop out of school and move back home to Coalville, which meant no cell
phone reception. A few months later, Brian was gone.
Brian, was and still is my very best friend, he knew
how to help me through everything. He always told me to be strong if this were
to happen but I didn't think I could be, his favorite quote keeps coming to
mind "You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only option."
we don't know who said so from now on its Brian.
Brian, saw me how no one has ever seen me before he
opened my eyes to how heavenly Father might see me, he saw my potential and
never let me be sad. When I would have a bad day I would call him, when I had a
funny thing happen I would call him, whenever anything happened I would call
him now he’s gone and I can't stop thinking about him.
I hope to never forget his laugh, he and a good
heart felt happy loving life laugh that you get only from going through what he
had gone through. Brian will be greatly missed by m, and I will never forget
all of our late night phone calls, our stupid jokes and most of all I will
never forget how happy he always was no matter how bad things got.
So, that’s how I met my best friend. Since then I
have started college changed my major countless times and finally decided on
what to do.
About a year and a half ago I saw on Facebook and
saw that one of my friends was doing a fundraiser through the St. Baldricks
foundation. I looked into and decided I was going to shave my head to help find
a cure for Childhood cancer, and that is when this all really started.
I organized and planned the entire event. I went to
the community and asked for help, I did it all, and loved it. I shaved my head
on September 15, 2012 and since then I have been trying to start my own
nonprofit.
Brian showed me how to live and showed me that no
matter how hard life seems to be there is joy in the journey, you just have to
have faith in every footstep. That is why I am doing this, because I believe
the joy of a child is a joy worthwhile!
If you have any questions please feel free to ask!
Also, here is a like to the blog I had while I was grieving Brian's passing: http://dearbrian46.blogspot.com/
Remember that when life gets hard to keep moving
forward and to...
Always Smile!
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