The Wonder Girl

Our daughter, Adelia, was diagnosed with Diffuse Midline Glioma, or DMG in February 2023. We call her The Wonder Girl because of her bravery, strength, and courage.

Adelia left us in May 2024, in peace and surrounded by love, after a 15-month battle with this devastating disease. Adelia and her family are grateful to her team of amazing doctors at Dana Farber and for the love and support of our community.

We continue to feel her presence in every butterfly, flower and ray of sunshine. We miss her dearly.

About Adelia

As written by her mother, Meryl

Adelia was a bright, curious, kind second grader whose beautiful life was taken far too soon by an incurable, highly aggressive brain tumor. Adelia was diagnosed wtih Diffuse Midline Glioma (DMG) on February 25, 2023 after several trips to the ER where she was thought to have the stomach bug. Her doctors gave her 9-12 months to live, and less than a 1% chance of surviving 2 years post-diagnosis.

For 15 months, Adelia battled through 5 brain surgeries, 63 radiation treatments, and countless pokes, scans, and procedures. She moved to Seattle for one month in order to participate in a promising CAR-T cell trial. While she had every right to complain, she remained hopeful, selfless, and positive throughout her fight and exuded the utmost bravery and resilience until the very end, passing away on May 30th, 2024.

Her beautiful spirit will be sorrowfully missed but will live on through all those who knew and lived her. Her resiliency and strength will continue to inspire us all to try harder, never give up, and to stay positive amidst the most trying of times. She has taught the world to channel sadness and anger into positivity and strength, which will be forever felt by her loving community. 

She was a caring and thoughtful friend, a patient and model big sister, and an unconditionally loving daughter. She dreamed of being in the national spelling bee, having her stories published into books, and becoming a veterinarian or a teacher. She was a talented violinist, a creative artist, and a dancing queen. She loved music of all kinds, especially Bob Marley, Ingrid Michaelson, and Elton John. She could plow through several books a week, some of her favorites included Matilda and Charlotte’s Webb.

Adelia was a passive observer, absorbing everything until she felt ready to dive in. She was always thinking a few steps ahead, making her jokes all the more funny and impressive. She was a calm presence in any room, always helping others, sharing her kindness, and encouraging everyone try their best.

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