Remembering Kalia

I had kind of a hard start to my semester. Classes have been good so far. A little overwhelming, but good. And I like my roommates a lot, especially the one who is just across the hall from me. She's one of the few people I know who is shorter than me. She's cute and sweet and I have enjoyed talking to her a few times over the past few days.
When I got home last night, I worked on homework a bit and called my parents, my usual after school routine. Then, at around 9:30 I was looking at Facebook, and got a notification that I had been added to my friend Kalia's "list". I had no idea what this meant, so I went over to her page to see what was up. There were all kinds of posts from people saying how great Kalia was. "Was". As in "is no more". I scanned the rest of the page and there were several saying "rest in peace," and a couple that mentioned her death. Still not sure it was real, I googled her, and the first things that came up were obituaries for Kalia Rae Kuligowski. I only knew one person with that name. http://www.londonderrynh.net/?tag=kalia-rae-kuligowski-obituary
Kalia was my best friend from Snow College. I was (and still am) pretty shy and had a hard time making friends in my ward when I first started school. Kalia noticed me in Relief Society and befriended me early on, calling me to go to ward prayer or see a movie with her and her roommates or to come play games with her. She was a year older than me, and finished her associates degree at Snow that year, but I kept in touch with her, e-mailing and occasionally doing things together, like a memorable spring break trip to the Hogle Zoo. She told me when she got her mission call to the Samara, Russia mission, and I wrote her on and off while she was out.
We fell out of touch after her mission. I kept track of what was going on with her via Facebook and her blog. She was going to graduate school in Boston, closer to her hometown of Derry, New Hampshire. Her brother passed away about a year ago while in Afghanistan. I looked at the pictures of her trips to various old houses back East, and her recent trip to Romania and Eastern Europe.
Kalia was 26. She died from complications caused by Colon Cancer. She didn't tell many people she was sick. I didn't know until last night. It's the kind of person she was. It was a private thing, something she was dealing with and wouldn't advertise to just anyone for pity. She had it for over a year.
I will always remember Kalia and the kindness she showed me. Her beautiful smile and the way she treated everyone she knew like they were her best friend. I will miss her. But I know that she's not in pain anymore. That Heavenly Father must have needed her to come home now, even though it's hard for her friends and family. She's in a better place, a place that I hope I can live to be worthy of seeing her in someday.
I've decided I really hate cancer. Especially this variation of it, because I have another friend who is not much older than me who is in remission from colon cancer. It's a horrible illness. This experience, and all the others I have had with cancer in recent years really makes me want to do something about it. I'll have to find out when Relay for Life is and participate this year. Even if I can't do anything to help Kalia, Sisiter Philbrick, Jack, Aunt Joy, or to keep the fear of recurrance from my friend Beth or my neighbor Jayci, I can try to do something that might help cancer patients have more hope, more time with their families.