Luke's "Knight Times" Article

**In the Lincoln-Way (The High School that Alicia would have gone to) newspaper, "Knight Times", Luke Gay wrote an article to show others Alicia's kind ways and optimism, influencing those that never had the opportunity to know her. In this, he quoted Alicia's story and some of her poems which we already have on the website, so instead of retyping them, we linked them for those of you who would like to read either. I hope you will take the time to read and understand what Luke and many of Alicia's close friends learned from knowing her and help Alicia live on by learning from the lessons she taught so well, as well as appreciating the emotion and love that Luke put forth in writing this.**

Alicia O'Brien-Disandro was eleven when she was diagnosed with cancer. Sadly, she died at the age of 14. This is the story of a young girl that touched the hearts of so many people. She lived in New Lenox and went to Martino Jr. High School from 1998 to 1999. I first met in her in fourth grade before we knew of the battles she would soon have to fight. We didn't become friends until we are about twelve. At this time she had been battling cancer for about a year. Alicia knew she didn't have the opportunity most kids had to live a long and full life. So she decided to do everything she could to make her life as rich as it could be in the short time she had. She found a way to express what she was going through in a way that made her so happy and touched so many people's lives. She created writings and poetry. I learned so much from her and her writings. Now what better way to tell the story of Alicia than her own words. This is Alicia's own story:

Alicia's Story