This young face belongs to Melissa Flores born Feb. 15, 1980. Melissa, who is known as "Missy" to family and friends, was the #1 Dodgers fan in Bakersfield and never missed a game. Melissa had a laugh that comforts her mom Terry Lira now that Melissa is gone. Melissa was in the middle of two brothers Gilbert and Raymond Flores but according to her mom Terry that's what made her tough. Melissa never got the chance to have children of her own but loved children and was the Godmother to her brother Gilbert's child Abby. "Melissa taught disabled children and that goes to show what type of person she was and how special she was" according to Terry.
The Dream team puts up their sign getting ready for the start of day. They work together to hang the Happy Birthday Survivor sign. This the fifth year of participation, the Dream Team was able to make the top ten teams at the Relay for life, a goal that Melissa had when she started the team in 2006.
The Dream Team stayed with the theme of Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back.
Captain Holli Pyland tells the team last minute things that need to be done before the start of the day. When asked what is Holli's favorite memory of Melissa she said "Oh there's not just one. I honestly don't have one favorite memory just things that I remember is how much laughing we did through our ten year friendship, the places that we traveled to in her last year of life, buying a house together, getting her, her dream truck, going to Hawaii, Relay is always a good memory, her survivor lap, and her Fight like a Girl theme." Holli closes with "Just because we lost our survivor doesn't mean that that's the fate of every other survivor. And seeing the purple shirts everywhere especially on the survivor lap, that just makes us work harder and raise more money every single year because we don't want anyone else to lose anyone they love to cancer."
The Dream Team not only has raffles but also has food for sell. They number one fundraiser the Dream Team has is the Pink and Black Party for a Cure which was first established four years ago by Melissa and her cousin Christina. The Pink and Black Party started with raising $5000 the first year to raising over $10,000 this year. Six hundred tickets were sold this year and it was basically all family, friends, people that knew Melissa, and people who knew of Melissa.
Terry Lira puts the tickets for the raffles where they belong before the start of the walk. The Dream Team gets all kinds of different donations which they raffle off, this year they had 21 things they had to raffle off that have to do with both Breast Cancer and survivors of cancer. They have both pink and purple, pink for the Breast Cancer and purple for the survivors. Most of the stuff they have is for Breast Cancer because that's what Melissa died from but they continue to do Relay for life to help the survivors. They have blankets that people made, gift baskets, as well as t-shirts the Dream Team had made up.
Terry wears a memory shirt with Melissa's face on it with the year she was born and the year she passed.
Terry's mom, who passed away last year from cancer as well, is also remembered on this day and is celebrated along with Melissa through the Relay for Life.
These shirts which say Dream Team on the front have two ribbons which form a heart in memory of both Melissa and her grandmother Frances Ibarra who passed away last year. The pink ribbon is for Melissa and the blue if for her Grandma who died from stomach cancer.
Abby, Gilbert's daughter and Melissa's God-daughter gets help with her Relay for life bracelet with her shirt representing the Dream Team.
When Gilbert Flores was asked to tell me about his sister, he got emotional and said "Um my sister? Uh I can't" I told him I needed him to help me tell Melissa's story and he said "How do I explain my sister? Uh very strong probably one of the strongest girls I ever met in my life. She was very loving and took care of everybody. Very missed. Its just really hard to say. A very athletic girl, she was beautiful, and wanted to help everybody even when she was sick she wanted to help everybody." Gilbert, who was upset with good reason went on to say when asked if he thought it would ever get easier "No. It never gets easier, we just cope with it, kind of put it aside, it never gets easier. From little songs to certain food she liked just starts it all over again."
This is the tattoo the family got when Melissa first found out she had cancer. It was first the pink ribbon for Breast Cancer and then they put her name in it as a memorial for her and the struggle she was going through. "When she passed we decided to add God's hands around it because she's in God's hands now, looking over us." Gilbert said as he finished up the story behind his tattoo.
An emotional Terry talks about the day Melissa got the phone call telling her she had cancer. Terry, Melissa, and younger brother Ray were sitting on Melissa's bed in her room and Melissa had already been tested and they all knew it and Melissa's cell phone rings. Melissa answered the phone and was like "yeah, ok, what time" then she got off the phone with no reaction and says "I have cancer". Younger brother Ray had to leave the room, but Terry hugged her and kissed her and told her she loved her and that they would get through it, that they would fight it, and she'd be ok. Melissa acted as if she was ok but Terry later found out that Melissa had wrote about her fight and how she struggled with different areas and times of her fight. Terry found it right before Melissa's first anniversary of her death and saved it until the day of her anniversary where she read it out loud to the family who gathered at Melissa's grave.
One favorite memory that Terry has of Melissa is one that makes her very proud, "when [Melissa] was going through her treatments in the last few weeks before she passed away, when she would go and get her treatments and by this time she was very weak when I would take her to CBCC we would pull up to the front and they would come out with a gurney for her and take her in so that she could get her treatment and then bring her out for me after her treatment was done. But even still as she laid there on her gurney she would still, with the other patience there, she would still tell them how they had to continue to fight their cancer and to not give up and to have faith that they would get better. So that day I was really proud of that." One day in particular Melissa had to have a blood transfusion so she was laying on the gurney and a man had to be taken out because he was having a hard time and Melissa turned to Terry and said "See, you see mom, we should never feel sorry for ourselves because there's always someone else worse off then we are" and Terry was very proud of that moment.
Mom, Terry and God-daughter Abby Flores pose for a picture after sharing their thoughts and feelings about their Missy. Abby says that she misses her Nina and remembers her Nina tickling her.
Melissa played softball growing up and softball is where she met her best friend Holli. Melissa and Holli played softball together at BC and had hoped to play in a co-ed adult league but at first they were working and then with Melissa getting sick, she was unable to do so. Holli and some friends and family members started a softball team which they call the Dream team in honor and memory of Melissa.
Fight like a girl was one of the themes that the Dream team came up with while Melissa was still a live. The first year theme was Dodgers because Melissa was a big Dodger fan and then with Melissa still fighting, the second year was called Fight Like a Girl because Melissa was a tough fighter. They had a boxing ring which they covered with pink and a pink punching bag that according to Terry during Melissa's fight she would go out and use the ring to get out some of her stress. The Dream Team holds this theme close to their heart because "that's what Melissa did she fought until the very end" Terry said when talking about the Fight Like a Girl theme.
I close with Melissa's message to all women, "make sure you get checked, don't take no for an answer, if they tell you you're fine but you think there's something wrong don't except that go get a second opinion." On January 14, 2008, Melissa died at the young age of 27 but she continues to live on through the Dream Team.
This young face belongs to Melissa Flores born Feb. 15, 1980. Melissa, who is known as "Missy" to family and friends, was the #1 Dodgers fan in Bakersfield and never missed a game. Melissa had a laugh that comforts her mom Terry Lira now that Melissa is gone. Melissa was in the middle of two brothers Gilbert and Raymond Flores but according to her mom Terry that's what made her tough. Melissa never got the chance to have children of her own but loved children and was the Godmother to her brother Gilbert's child Abby. "Melissa taught disabled children and that goes to show what type of person she was and how special she was" according to Terry.
The Dream team puts up their sign getting ready for the start of day. They work together to hang the Happy Birthday Survivor sign. This the fifth year of participation, the Dream Team was able to make the top ten teams at the Relay for life, a goal that Melissa had when she started the team in 2006.
The Dream Team stayed with the theme of Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back.
Captain Holli Pyland tells the team last minute things that need to be done before the start of the day. When asked what is Holli's favorite memory of Melissa she said "Oh there's not just one. I honestly don't have one favorite memory just things that I remember is how much laughing we did through our ten year friendship, the places that we traveled to in her last year of life, buying a house together, getting her, her dream truck, going to Hawaii, Relay is always a good memory, her survivor lap, and her Fight like a Girl theme." Holli closes with "Just because we lost our survivor doesn't mean that that's the fate of every other survivor. And seeing the purple shirts everywhere especially on the survivor lap, that just makes us work harder and raise more money every single year because we don't want anyone else to lose anyone they love to cancer."
The Dream Team not only has raffles but also has food for sell. They number one fundraiser the Dream Team has is the Pink and Black Party for a Cure which was first established four years ago by Melissa and her cousin Christina. The Pink and Black Party started with raising $5000 the first year to raising over $10,000 this year. Six hundred tickets were sold this year and it was basically all family, friends, people that knew Melissa, and people who knew of Melissa.
Terry Lira puts the tickets for the raffles where they belong before the start of the walk. The Dream Team gets all kinds of different donations which they raffle off, this year they had 21 things they had to raffle off that have to do with both Breast Cancer and survivors of cancer. They have both pink and purple, pink for the Breast Cancer and purple for the survivors. Most of the stuff they have is for Breast Cancer because that's what Melissa died from but they continue to do Relay for life to help the survivors. They have blankets that people made, gift baskets, as well as t-shirts the Dream Team had made up.
Terry wears a memory shirt with Melissa's face on it with the year she was born and the year she passed.
Terry's mom, who passed away last year from cancer as well, is also remembered on this day and is celebrated along with Melissa through the Relay for Life.
These shirts which say Dream Team on the front have two ribbons which form a heart in memory of both Melissa and her grandmother Frances Ibarra who passed away last year. The pink ribbon is for Melissa and the blue if for her Grandma who died from stomach cancer.
Abby, Gilbert's daughter and Melissa's God-daughter gets help with her Relay for life bracelet with her shirt representing the Dream Team.
When Gilbert Flores was asked to tell me about his sister, he got emotional and said "Um my sister? Uh I can't" I told him I needed him to help me tell Melissa's story and he said "How do I explain my sister? Uh very strong probably one of the strongest girls I ever met in my life. She was very loving and took care of everybody. Very missed. Its just really hard to say. A very athletic girl, she was beautiful, and wanted to help everybody even when she was sick she wanted to help everybody." Gilbert, who was upset with good reason went on to say when asked if he thought it would ever get easier "No. It never gets easier, we just cope with it, kind of put it aside, it never gets easier. From little songs to certain food she liked just starts it all over again."
This is the tattoo the family got when Melissa first found out she had cancer. It was first the pink ribbon for Breast Cancer and then they put her name in it as a memorial for her and the struggle she was going through. "When she passed we decided to add God's hands around it because she's in God's hands now, looking over us." Gilbert said as he finished up the story behind his tattoo.
An emotional Terry talks about the day Melissa got the phone call telling her she had cancer. Terry, Melissa, and younger brother Ray were sitting on Melissa's bed in her room and Melissa had already been tested and they all knew it and Melissa's cell phone rings. Melissa answered the phone and was like "yeah, ok, what time" then she got off the phone with no reaction and says "I have cancer". Younger brother Ray had to leave the room, but Terry hugged her and kissed her and told her she loved her and that they would get through it, that they would fight it, and she'd be ok. Melissa acted as if she was ok but Terry later found out that Melissa had wrote about her fight and how she struggled with different areas and times of her fight. Terry found it right before Melissa's first anniversary of her death and saved it until the day of her anniversary where she read it out loud to the family who gathered at Melissa's grave.
One favorite memory that Terry has of Melissa is one that makes her very proud, "when [Melissa] was going through her treatments in the last few weeks before she passed away, when she would go and get her treatments and by this time she was very weak when I would take her to CBCC we would pull up to the front and they would come out with a gurney for her and take her in so that she could get her treatment and then bring her out for me after her treatment was done. But even still as she laid there on her gurney she would still, with the other patience there, she would still tell them how they had to continue to fight their cancer and to not give up and to have faith that they would get better. So that day I was really proud of that." One day in particular Melissa had to have a blood transfusion so she was laying on the gurney and a man had to be taken out because he was having a hard time and Melissa turned to Terry and said "See, you see mom, we should never feel sorry for ourselves because there's always someone else worse off then we are" and Terry was very proud of that moment.
Mom, Terry and God-daughter Abby Flores pose for a picture after sharing their thoughts and feelings about their Missy. Abby says that she misses her Nina and remembers her Nina tickling her.
Melissa played softball growing up and softball is where she met her best friend Holli. Melissa and Holli played softball together at BC and had hoped to play in a co-ed adult league but at first they were working and then with Melissa getting sick, she was unable to do so. Holli and some friends and family members started a softball team which they call the Dream team in honor and memory of Melissa.
Fight like a girl was one of the themes that the Dream team came up with while Melissa was still a live. The first year theme was Dodgers because Melissa was a big Dodger fan and then with Melissa still fighting, the second year was called Fight Like a Girl because Melissa was a tough fighter. They had a boxing ring which they covered with pink and a pink punching bag that according to Terry during Melissa's fight she would go out and use the ring to get out some of her stress. The Dream Team holds this theme close to their heart because "that's what Melissa did she fought until the very end" Terry said when talking about the Fight Like a Girl theme.
I close with Melissa's message to all women, "make sure you get checked, don't take no for an answer, if they tell you you're fine but you think there's something wrong don't except that go get a second opinion." On January 14, 2008, Melissa died at the young age of 27 but she continues to live on through the Dream Team.
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