July 11, 2009

A butterfly's sister

Meet Pia Guballa, an 18-year-old freshman Psychology major who has a passion for photography. When she was seven years old, her brother Migi, who was only four at the time, died of a congenital heart disease called Tetralogy of Fallot. As a way of providing her an outlet for her grief, her mother Cathy gave her a journal to write or draw anything every time she remembered her little brother. So she did. And this year, Cathy and Pia re-wrote one of those stories and turned it into a children's book illustrated by Frances Alcaraz. It is the story of Migi's hospitalization and death from the point of view and experiences of Pia as a little girl, and is the first of a series of special topics for children planned by Anvil Publishing. It's about time.

Pia Guballa with a banner of her book 'Heaven's Butterfly'

21 comments:

Judy said...

Wonderful! Congratulations to Pia!! Love the picture too.

Lois said...

What a beautiful title! That's a wonderful picture Hilda.

dianasfaria.com said...

this is wonderful. beautiful cover illustration. Congratulations Pia!

Anonymous said...

Well what a nice story to read about. Congratulations are in order all around but especially to Pia and others involved.

marley said...

What a lovely way to commemorate her brother.

Don and Krise said...

Congratulations! What an honor! A touching story.

Chattahoochee Valley Daily said...

What a great story. Her mother was pretty smart to understand that she might need an outlet to express her grief.

Lowell said...

She's a beautiful young woman on the outside and must be the same on the inside, and the story is also beautiful!

Best wishes. I hope it is a best seller and assists others to bear their grief caught in such circumstances!

Very fine post, Hilda!

Louis la Vache said...

Hilda, thank you for sharing this bittersweet story with us....

Leif Hagen said...

Lovely photo, touching story! As a father of 3 daughters, that's my worst fear!

Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.com said...

Very heartwarming story and photos. Thanks to you for sharing and best wishes for her.

Gunn said...

Thanks for sharing this strong story and nice photo.
Also thanks for your welcoming words in my new blog. (Stavanger-daily-photo)
I have had a look at both of your blogs, and I like them!

Jilly said...

What a poignant story and such a beautiful photograph.

B SQUARED said...

Pia is an amazing woman!

Sharon said...

What a wonderful story. Congratulations to Pia!

Steve Harris said...

Hi Hilda! What an inspirational story. I'm always amazed at people who experience tragic events, and yet have the inner strength to channel their grief into something that can ultimately help others going through similar trials.

And thanks for dropping by Toronto Daily Photo with your Happy Birthday message! It was very much appreciated. Things have been a little slow there recently as I've switched to a new job and needed to take a little time to reorganize myself. I should be back to living up to the "Daily Photo" part of the title on Monday - thanks for checking in.

Anonymous said...

Very touching story! Hope the book will help people understand better and cope a bit easier with hard times!

VP said...

Touching story with a very sad ending, I hope something good come out from all this.

escape said...

im quite impressed! im sure that she'll be inspiring a lot of people thru the stories.

George said...

What a wonderful story. I'm glad it is being made available for children.

Anonymous said...

Felt so sorry for pia,really this is a very great story.one will definitely be filled with sad reading this.

peter

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