thoughts of our Tita Cyn

shared by Andrew Beall, her brother-in-law

On May 30, 2003, Marlo woke me up in the very early morning, and not long after we were headed to the hospital in Santa Monica to deliver our first child. At 2:24 pm, a beautiful baby girl entered our lives. It was a great day and one that I'll obviously never forget.

But one memory that I have from that day that I think of often, is the drive from our apartment to the hospital in the early morning hours. Marlo and I were finalizing names for both a boy or a girl. We didn't want to find out before the birth what we were going to have, so we were excited to soon know. We weren't quite decided on what to do if we had a boy. But it was pretty much finalized if we had a girl.

It means a lot to me that my daughter Cynthia is named after her aunt Cindy. There is just about no better role model a person could have than Cindy. Sometimes after someone passes away, people tend to glorify those that have died. What I find very nice about this blog is that it is all true.

Cindy was all of what people have written and more. At some point when they are old enough to understand it fully, I'm looking forward to sharing this blog with Cynthia and her sister Ava. I want them to know their Tita Cyn. I want them to know who she was. From the small moments like she and VJ switching necklaces before prom, to the big moments like when Cindy won her student government election at UCLA.

But I know that Cindy would also want Cynthia to be her own person. I want my daughter to be free to forge her own path. I believe that she will have many of the same qualities of Cindy, but her personality will use them in different ways.

From time to time, I like to look at Cynthia and tell her that she has angel's wings and then playfully dust them off with my hand. She is my angel. And what is great is that I know she's got her very own angel watching over her. I love you and miss you Tita Cyn!

thoughts of chasing lost dogs

shared by Arlene Rabuy, her sister

In the summer of 1998, Cyn and Linh bought a black and white Siberian Husky from a breeder. His official name was Nanook of the Aurora Borealis, but we just called him Nanook; and he was Cyn's dog. When Cyn left for college, I took over caring for Nanook.

He was a happy dog that loved people, especially kids. I thought he had run away one day, but I eventually found him walking with a kid to his bus stop the next morning. He was a little mischievous too, evidenced by a couple of trips I had to make to animal services to bail him out. He was a true people dog with a free spirit... not unlike his "mom".

Nanook left us in February of 2004. I'm guessing that these days, he can be found happily frolicking around somewhere with Cyn.

thoughts of skills with flowers

shared by VJ Rabuy, her sister

Cyn was talented at a lot of things. She could braid hair beautifully, and the team of Cyn and Linh could cook up one mean lasagna. One of her talents that was probably less shined upon was her skill with flower arrangement.

For my high school graduation in June of 2000, I wanted a crown of flowers to adorn my graduation cap, just as I had seen on one of the graduates at Carla's UCLA graduation the year prior. I wasn't sure how to put one together, so Cyn got about 50 or 60 rose buds in my school colors -- yellow roses for gold and sterling roses for purple -- and made me the most beautiful and unique 'crown' of flowers.

That same weekend, Cyn and I flew together to LA for Marlo's second graduation from UCLA, this time for her Master's degree. Cyn waited to travel with me, instead of going with the family the day before, so I could attend my Grad Nite. Our flight was super early in the morning and I remember we each had two dozen roses for our carry-on item. I'm sure that Cyn put together some nice arrangements when we made it to LA.