We celebrated Erin's Angel Day this year with a balloon release on Sunday, April 24, 2016 (the day before Erin's actually Angel Day of April 25, 2007).  Kevin, Catherine, Kate, and Caroline met us at 9:00am Mass at St.  Theresa's, then we drove the short distance to Erin's grave at the Austin Memorial Park Cemetery on Hancock Drive.  There we wrote messages to Erin and the little ones drew pictures for her.  I read Erin's poem:  Butterfly (posted below) and then we released the balloons one by one.  Caroline especially was entranced by the floating spheres.  Then when we could see them no more we went to La Mancha Restaurant for brunch.  All during breakfast, Caroline would say, "Boons!  Boons!"  with such wide eyes!  I know Erin would love all the little ones in our life.  I'm sure she laughs just as much as we do some days.  It is always a bittersweet day for us, April 25.  But it is so nice to know that others think of Erin and remember how much she touched us all.  Enjoy her poem:

Butterfly - 2006
 
Sometimes in Life
You get too stressed
You need to break away
And even though,
You try your best,
It doesn’t work out that way,
But up in the clouds
It’s hard to see,
How anything can go wrong,
The world is turning,
Constantly,
But you just float along,
Butterfly, tell me,
How does it feel?
To fly above the rest,
And when you look down,
You see that the ground,
Is more beautiful than you’d guessed,
And when you choose,
To fly away,
You dazzle those near and far,
Because when you fly
You spread your wings,
And they see how beautiful you are
If I could talk to the sun,
I don’t know what I’d say,
I might sing or I might dance,
But luckily, butterfly,
You already know,
Because you’ve been given the chance,
But you wander, butterfly,
From place to place,
Each day from dusk to dawn,
But when you leave,
You touch the sky,
And into the sun,
You’re gone.
 
Erin Crowley
2006

Debbie and Kevin attended the RMHC and McDonalds owners' award dinner the night of May 14, 2013. See the home page for picture.  Twenty-five other $1000 scholarships were given to area Seniors.  Rini received $4000 from the Erin Crowley Scholarship.  Debbie shared the following words with all the RMHC scholars and their families  that night at the dinner.

Thank you to McDonald's restaurant owner - operators and RMHC for the honor bestowed in Erin’s memory. Thank you for this opportunity to speak and to help present the scholarship that bears her name.  My son Kevin joins me tonight for this special annual occasion for our family.

Congratulations to all of you. I am honored to get to know a little about you and to be here with you and your families tonight. You are all winners. Your resumes are impressive; your future is bright; you have so much to give!  You are WOW kids!   For that you should be proud. I know your parents are proud of you.  My daughter Erin was a Wow kid too. She was perched on the edge of a fantastic future, just like you. The whole world was before her, but her future turned out a little differently.  I mention this not to make you sad but instead to share what has become to me a lesson of inspiration - one that I learned with Erin's help – while she was alive AND after her death - and one that I hope you will carry away with you tonight.

You’ve heard that Erin was a recipient of a similar scholar’s award in 2007.  For 5 years she had been fighting a brain tumor.  She had surgery, chemotherapy, two relapses, an autologous stem cell transplant and she lost her hair three times.  But throughout Erin's fight with cancer amazingly we experienced many blessings.  That may be hard to believe but it was so true. And perhaps the biggest blessing was how Erin and her story touched so many people in the five years she lived it and now through this wonderful scholarship bearing her name.   On Erin's monument we had these words etched in stone "she touched us all".  I share this with you so you will know that in all your accomplishments both past, present and yet to come; in all your awards;  in all your community service, everyday meetings, in work, in play, and even in sorrow never forget the power you will have to touch and influence all those around you. The connections you will make will be what people will remember about you.  You may be the life line for some despairing person or the voice who gives reassurance and guidance to a friend who needs it.  You have the ability to be all of that and more to others.  So as I love to hear of all your accomplishments, don’t forget the people around you and your effect on them.  We all have a place in the world to fill, but we won’t fill it alone.  We are all together.

I leave you with a favorite quote from William Paul Young, author of The Shack:

“Because you are important, everything you do is important.  Every time you forgive the universe changes.  Every time you reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes.  With every kindness and service, seen or unseen, God’s purposes are accomplished, and nothing will ever be the same again.”


Congratulations again to all of you and especially to the winner of the 2013 Erin Crowley Scholarship,  Rini Sinha.

Spring used to be my favorite season: new life, flowers, warmer weather.  I still do appreciate these things but now spring has an additional meaning to me:  anniversaries.  Now when March comes I remember the day Erin came home from the hospital to be enrolled in Hospice care.  That was on my birthday.  I recall the night we helped her get dressed up for Prom because her friends were honoring her as Prom Queen.  I recall a party at Dave and Buster’s with about 25 of Erin’s closest friends who came to celebrate her life….not her impending death.  I remember the last trip to Dr. Sharp’s office to draw blood.  Looking back, I don’t know why we kept up with those rituals…maybe we were trying for some kind of normalcy, schedule, and routine at the end.  Erin, who was always so brave and matter of fact cried when Jennifer had trouble finding a good vein.  Our hearts broke and so did Jennifer’s. 

And of course April 25th will always be Erin’s Angel day, the day she left her life here and passed into eternal life.  I understand that better some days than others.   Maybe that is why God brought Erin home right after Easter so that I would always make that connection…so that through the Easter story I would always have faith in the Promise of our own Resurrection.  There is nothing else that can comfort a parent who has lost a child any more than that.  I know she will live on in paradise.   Nothing else matters than the promise of new life.  Nothing else matters.

So spring now means so much more than just blooming flowers, butterflies, bright sunshine.  I see Erin in all of those things.  She is with me in so many small and large ways reminding me that now she is part of that new life also and I smile instead of cry!

Thank you all for your continued prayers.  We will never be “over” Erin’s death, but we are at peace with it.  The sadness of her absence can wrap its cold arms around us at any moment of any day, with a song, a place, a face, or even a small hand.  Her life and death make us who we are today….but, hopefully, we are better for it, because she made us that way!  I thank God for the gift of Erin’s life.  I hope I can honor her with mine.

Love,
Debbie

“I write these things to you so that you may know
 that you have eternal life,
you who believe in the name of the Son of God.”
1 John 5:13

 “Beloved, we are God’s children now;
what we shall be has not yet been revealed. 
We do know that when it is revealed –
we shall be like Him,
for we shall see Him as He is.”
1 John 3:2

_ In memory of Erin Elizabeth Crowley  |  9/13/1988 - 4/25/2007

“Come to Me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy, and my burden light."
Matthew 11:28-30

Dear Friends and Family,

This year marks the 5th anniversary of Erin’s death and the beginning of her foundation.   Your past support has helped to continue the good works of Dell Children’s Medical Center, the Ronald McDonald House, and the scholarship fund of St. Michael’s Academy.  Your generosity has helped to build a strong fund from which to benefit these worthy causes.

We thank you for helping to keep Erin’s name and memory a part of a worthwhile endeavor.

[GIVE NOW TO THE ERIN CROWLEY FOUNDATION]

Many blessings,
Tim and Debbie Crowley

Happy 22nd Birthday, Erin!

Though our hearts are always missing you, we are filled with so many memories of your beautiful spirit.  You showed us just how special is God's precious gift of life.

We love you,
Mom, Dad, Megan, Jeremy, Colin, Kevin & Catherine

*This is Erin's 7th grade picture taken in 2001.