Maria Gassel

My Great Strides Story- My walk for V-LO 

Vanessa's niece, Kim, beautifully captured her essence in the words below: 

 “Remember to lead with love and be kind”.

        While Cystic Fibrosis is an emotionally and physically grueling disease, none of it stopped Vanessa Lopez from living her life to the fullest extent. Traveling from Europe to Central America and across the U.S, Vanessa immersed herself in each culture she explored with passion and kindness. Vanessa took every normal day and she understood what she had to do: Live, not exist. After graduating as a proud Blue Demon from DePaul University, she continued her studies and was in progress of attaining her MBA from DePaul University’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.

        Vanessa loved to see her friends and explore new places to eat, hang out, take pictures, or to spend time with the people she loved. She enjoyed making meals for her family, spending one-on-one time with both of her nieces, and dancing around her kitchen with a variation of different music genres blasting from her speaker. Her joy for adventures and culture, her neverending strength and perseverance, and her passion for living life to the fullest extent created a role model for me, her eldest niece, which I have attempted to live up to each day of my life.

In all honesty, summing up who Vanessa Lopez was is extremely difficult. It is very difficult to explain the love and kindness each person around her received because that kind of love and devotion is indescribable, but I can easily describe the light she radiated. Through her laugh, it was easy to feel as if sunlight encased you, and through her bright eyes, it was easy to feel as if she was made of light.

Through all of this, all of the medication and procedures and long hospital visits because of her Cystic Fibrosis, Vanessa placed this disease second to her passions and never once let it stop her from seeing the world and loving the people in her life.

I vividly remember the day my aunt Vanessa looked me in the eyes with utmost pride and said, You and I are a reflection of each other, and to this day, it was the greatest compliment I could have ever received.

Be a reflection of joy and passion. Be a reflection of strength, determination, perseverance, and love. Live your life like Vanessa did, to the fullest and most joyful extent.

In her final written letter to me, she wrote carefully inside the front of a book she gifted me for Christmas and I have carried these words with me, tucked away for when I needed a reminder of her perspective on the world and her love for it, and now I share them with you:

“Remember to lead with love and be kind.”