thoughts of Oiksh?

shared by Milania Dela Cruz, her friend from high school

I played volleyball with Cynthia throughout our high school days. I always admired her because she played sports throughout the year, was always involved in the student government, and getting excellent grades! "How does she do that??" I would think. But that's how Cynthia would roll! :)

We had nicknames for each other on and off the volleyball court; it was Oiksh. Ha. I don't even know how we came up with that one, but we just kept calling each other Oiksh! "Nice spike Oiksh!" or "Nice serve Oiksh!" People would just look at us thinking..."what did they call each other??" It was awesome.

Every time after our away games, Cynthia, VJ and myself would head to McDonald's for food! She'd always get these cheeseburgers. She loved them! Cynthia is one of the most genuinely kind persons I know to this day. I truly miss her and I know I'll see her again.

Love you Cyn!

thoughts of ... maybe ...

shared by Phi Dang, her friend since junior high school

The first time I heard "Maybe" by Ingrid Michaelson, I immediately thought about Cyn and knew that I had to make a video to this song. I finally found some time in between work, school, and being a new father to finish it this summer. I wish I could tell Cyn about all the things that have happened in my life the past 8 years. She would've been an awesome Auntie to my son, Jonah.

The lyrics to this song are so fitting. I know one day she'll come back and we'll all see her again. Rest in peace old friend. Miss ya.

thoughts of fun-loving babies

shared by Marlo R. Beall, her sister

Cindy loved kids. In college, she was involved with several activities mentoring kids, including Bruin Partners and UCLA UniCamp. In high school, she taught CCD/Sunday School for preschool kids at our church, and she often worked as a babysitter for families in the neighborhood.

There are also a lot of cousins in our family, more than 30 of us, and all first cousins. Since our parents are both the first born in their families, my sisters and I are on the older end of the cousins spectrum. So growing up, we always had younger cousins to play with; we would often babysit them and we changed a lot of their diapers.

Just over a month ago, we were blessed with a wonderful new addition to our family. Carla and Mike had a baby girl named Michaela Trinity. With a newborn in the family, it reminded us about how Cyn would often say that she thought babies... were... kind... of... boring. It's a funny, endearing and silly sentiment. She would say that "babies don't really do anything". She enjoyed them much more when they were at least one year old or so, when they were more interactive.

Nowadays, I think that Cyn plays with babies a lot more than she used to. Many people believe that when babies start to randomly laugh or smile, it could be because they are being entertained by the angels that only they can see. I believe that. So I am quite confident that Michaela, along with her older sister and older cousins, have had their fair share of fun times playing with their Tita Cyn.