thoughts of a song for Cyn

shared by Marlo R. Beall, her sister

When Cyn passed away nine years ago, we were fortunate enough to celebrate her life and honor her memory during two memorial services in L.A. and her funeral mass and reception in the Bay Area. For those of you who may have attended one, two, or all of the services, you probably remember the touching song that Cyn's close friend, Abby Camaya, had written and sang for everyone.

Today, I wanted to share the lyrics to that song. Thank you Abby, so much, for putting your memories to music, and for sharing them with all of us.

Cyn

Chasing your lost dogs again

How was I

Lucky enough

To be found by you

Cyn

You're sweet like cinnamon

How I wish

I could see your face again

A vision of peace

A stress relief

You are my

Missing piece

Warmer than

A sunny day

Now you're

Spirited away

Fly away

Oh, fly away

And how to get through months and weeks

When I can't get through minutes

The world is empty now

Without your smile in it

Still don't understand

How stars collide

In the still

Of the night

Time rushed by fate

Why couldn't it wait

Still your love

Your love remains

Your love remains

Oh, your love remains

And how to get through months and weeks

When I can't get through minutes

The world is empty now

Without your smile in it

Cyn

Chasing your lost dogs again

How was I

Lucky enough

To be found by you

Cyn

You're sweet like cinnamon

Now I know

That I'll see your face again

thoughts of a candy wrapper crane

shared by Marlo R. Beall, her sister

Towards the end of our meal, while having lunch at one of our favorite sushi places this past week, my daughter Cynthia made this origami crane out of a lollipop wrapper. When she showed it to me, I smiled and told her, "That's just like something your Tita Cyn would do."

thoughts of ohana

shared by Marlo R. Beall and VJ Rabuy, her sisters

"This is Scrump. I made her, but her head is too big.

So I pretend a bug laid eggs in her ears, and she's upset because she only has a few more days to..."

This is how Lilo introduces Scrump in the movie Lilo and Stitch, and this is a photo of Cyn's Scrump doll.

Although we can't recall who gave it to Cyn, Scrump has always been a special part of the family.

We both remember when Cyn talked about her plans to re-create her own Scrump doll. Given her skill in arts and crafts, this was no surprise. She would start by using a Birkenstock brand sock of VJ's, that was just the right color for Scrump's body, and go from there.

Oh, and if you look closely, you can see the surgically repaired strand of Scrump's yellow "hair". That was a result of the hair strand breaking when VJ was playing with her. VJ had grabbed Scrump by the longest of her seven strands of hair, and proceeded to spin her around. Soon, Scrump was on the floor while a piece of one of the strands of hair remained in VJ's hand.

After Cyn passed away, Scrump became even more meaningful to all of us. VJ held it with her during Cyn's funeral service. She recalls how, at one point during the service, she and our cousin R.J. were playing with Scrump as we were singing one of the hymns. While VJ tickled Scrump's belly, R.J. proceeded to make Scrump's head wiggle back and forth as if she were laughing. Fortunately, they both managed to keep themselves from laughing out loud.

When Andrew and Marlo moved from Culver City to Union City, they were sure to continue to take good care of Scrump. She even had a significant role in the birth of each of their girls. Since Scrump is somewhat of a bean bag doll, she made a perfect squeeze toy during labor. And having Scrump with them helped strengthen the overall feeling of Cyn's spirit in the delivery room.

Today, Scrump resides in Cyn Cyn and Ava's room, and they truly appreciate how special she is.