Alicia O’Brien of New Lenox is only 13, but she already has touched more lives than people many years her senior.
Alicia, who was stricken with a brain tumor at age 11, hasn’t let illness take away her sunny smile and her love of life, a spirit celebrated by her classmates at Martino Junior High School, who proclaimed last Thursday “Alicia O’Brien Day.”
In the entrance hall, a huge sheet of white paper tacked up under the trophy case was filled with encouraging messages.
In the library, Alicia and author Cherie Bennett talked with pupils about Bennett’s book “Zink,” the story of a child battling cancer.
Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld, her husband and collaborator, flew in from Los Angeles to honor their young friend.
Bennett, who has written several books for young people, credits Alicia, who shared her experiences with cancer and provided an illustration for the book, with her story’s “honesty and depth.”
After reading Bennett’s stories about volunteers at a children’s hospital, Alicia wrote the author a letter.
“She said, `If you ever want to know what it’s like to be a patient in a children’s hospital, I can tell you,'” said Bennett, who was so impressed by Alicia’s “hysterical, really, really funny” letter that she picked up the phone and called her.
“Zink,” which is illustrated by nine children whose lives have been touched by cancer, compares their plights with Zink the Zebra, whose coat has polka dots instead of stripes.
Being different for any reason, including illness, is difficult because everyone, especially youngsters in middle school, wants to fit in, Bennett said.
“True courage is admitting that you’re afraid and fighting as hard as you can anyway. Alicia has helped me understand what that is,” she said. “She didn’t choose this, but she’s brave enough to tell you the truth.”
“Being 11 years old, my mind was anywhere but on cancer,” Alicia said. Her creativity helped her cope.
“I have been writing poetry ever since I was diagnosed. It was a way for me to escape,” said Alicia, who loves “to be able to take words from inside and mush them together and come out with something beautiful.”
Besides poetry and drawing, Alicia loves to hang out with her friends, “to see people and be around people.”
Her classmates are happy to see her, too, Principal Del Bitter said.
Knowing Alicia is enriching, friends agree.
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“She’s taught me to be very strong,” said Nicole Reed, 13.
“She says I’m her guardian angel, but believe me, she’s mine,” Bennett said.
“This [day] has been the greatest thing,” said Alicia’s mother, April O’Brien. “We have a lot of wonderful friends.”