Christine Jeannette Donovan

Christine J Donovan passed away at the age of 53 on September 29, 1989. She lost an 18 year battle to Cancer.

I was fortunate enough to have been adopted by an amazing spirit, my mother Christine Donovan (maiden name Carbone).

When I was 4 she was diagnosed with cancer. Many times the doctors told her she only had a few months to live but she proved them wrong every time, her strength of spirit and faith kept her alive for 18 years, until she lost the battle, she was only 53. She swore she wanted to see me grow up, and just after my 22nd birthday her spirit left this earth. I really did still feel like a little girl at 22, and I still feel like a little girl in many ways. She has been gone over 16 years as of the writing of this page, and I am digging into my little girl memory of her to speak of her now.

She had her feet firm on the ground but she always dreamed of magical places. She used to sing songs to me from The Wizard of Oz, Camelot, The King and I, Cinderella and a thousand other wonderful stories. The first song I ever learned the words to was “We’re off to see the Wizard” and I can still remember being about two or three and standing at the window of our playroom, looking out and singing it with her. She always said she wanted to live in Camelot, Neverland or Munchkinland (she was only about 5’0). Now I believe her spirit is in Camelot, which she used to sing to me about, and she spoke of how perfect it was supposed to be there. She is now with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as she always wished to be. Maybe even in Neverland, where she said many times she wished to be so that she would never have to grow up. In her life here she collected Gnomes, Mice (she loved ones that wore clothes, like in Cinderella) and Pelicans. She always wanted to write but never did.

I remember once, a few years after my grandmother died, my mother speculated to me if it ever stopped hurting (missing your mother). My Mother died only about 6 years after my grandmother and I can honestly say to my Mother now, from my experience, that no, it doesn’t stop hurting.

I only wish now that I could have known her as an adult, and I wish I could ask her opinion and her advice in so many things, I was still so young when I lost her, it hadn’t even dawned on me. I only wish I had known then what I know now.If you are reading this, and knew my Mom at any point in her life, please please email me with any stories you remember about her. I would like to build a nice memorial to her here and there are so many things I didn’t know about her or can’t remember now. Thank you so much for reading this.

Some poems I wrote after my Mom died.
All poems copyright Valerie A Donovan

10/24/89

As a tear falls
it reflects a glimmer of light
which shines into eternity
when the tear dries
the light is gone
no one can know
that it ever existed

10/24/89

A stillness hangs
over a lonely house
the air is cold
a whisper fades away
there are no ears
for it to reach

10/24/89

One single moment
a memory
frozen forever in time
like a photograph in my mind
a last breath,a soft cry
the end of a beautiful life
one that can never be matched
never compared
but one that has touched many
a memory of such a life can never die
As one heart flees into the darkness
another searches for the light