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| Natalie, Naomi and Dana |
Dana Ann Gong
September 11, 1970 - March 2, 2009
Five years ago today, the world lost a beautiful person, inside and out, and the heavens gained a bright new star.
Dana and I met in 2004 at an adoption agency meeting. Though we didn't know each other at the time, we had both attended UC Davis, where Dana had earned an M.S. in Food Science. When I met her she was a Food Technologist with the National Food Laboratory in Livermore. She and her husband Lester were preparing to adopt a child, and had selected the same agency as we had for our adoptions. We were in the same adoption travel group in 2005, and became good friends. Our girls’ birthdays are just 4 days apart. We both adopted again a couple of years later, and our second daughters are also the same age.
Dana and I met in 2004 at an adoption agency meeting. Though we didn't know each other at the time, we had both attended UC Davis, where Dana had earned an M.S. in Food Science. When I met her she was a Food Technologist with the National Food Laboratory in Livermore. She and her husband Lester were preparing to adopt a child, and had selected the same agency as we had for our adoptions. We were in the same adoption travel group in 2005, and became good friends. Our girls’ birthdays are just 4 days apart. We both adopted again a couple of years later, and our second daughters are also the same age.
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| Naomi and Dana, 2008 |
Sadly, several months
after coming home with her second daughter, Naomi, Dana was diagnosed
with
lymphoma. She was in and out of the hospital through the whole winter
holiday
season, fighting courageously. But cancer won the battle, and Dana
passed away just days before Naomi’s second birthday. The idea of that
beautiful baby, who had
already lost her birthmother, growing up without the mother who had
traveled to the
other side of the earth to get her, broke my heart. Even
though it has been five years since Dana left us, I think of her
frequently.
I can still see her huge smile and hear her laughing voice. When I was accepted to run for the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Team, I knew that I wanted to honor Dana's memory.
I can still see her huge smile and hear her laughing voice. When I was accepted to run for the Dana-Farber Marathon Challenge Team, I knew that I wanted to honor Dana's memory.
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| Dana and Natalie, 2006 |
Throughout
her life, Dana's giving spirit had led her to volunteer in several
different capacities, including selling daffodils each spring for the
American Cancer Society as a Daffodil Days Coordinator. When I learned that the Boston Marathon route would be lined with daffodils,
my eyes welled up with tears - I know that every time I see those
yellow flowers as I'm running, I will be thinking about Dana.
If you knew Dana and would like to leave a remembrance of her, we welcome your Comments below.
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