‘Reflection’ is a story inspired from Athena Orchard’s life. A 13-year-old girl diagnosed

with a rare bone cancer left a secret message to be found by her family after her

death. She wrote a series of beautiful quotes on love, life, and accepting death that could resonate with everybody on various levels.

    After reading more about Athena I realized that this in not just another sad cancer

story. It didn’t just make me feel sympathy; rather it made me feel a certain compassion

for people around me. That’s the moment I decided Athena’s story needs to be told.

    Every one of us is caught up in our own little universe we built for ourselves. Our

petty problems, the flaws we look in other people take over us, making us not even

look at a person with different eyes. But when this little universe is taken away from

us we realize how each person who’s a part of this is so important, and that we all share

the same battles that we don’t know how to fight. A young girl of 13 illustrated it

beautifully. Her world was collapsing, she couldn’t go to prom, she couldn’t feel the

warmth of that first kiss, she didn’t get her heart broken and she didn’t make mistakes

that changed her. But, she changed hundreds around her by conveying the importance of these simple things we take for granted. Cancer and the realization of inevitableness of her death made her take a step back and think about her life. It made me realize that life is bigger than it’s parts and one should always step back and look at it.

Article about Athena Orchard - http://www.people.com/article/british-girl-cancer-secret-mirror-note-parents