 His legacy |
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CRC St Albans Newsletter - 7th April 2006
MYLES CARUANA
Throughout this week the college has farewelled Myles Caruana. On Monday the staff and a large number of students attended the family's Funeral Mass for Myles. Yesterday, the college gathered together to celebrate Myles' life as a student.
The liturgy, which was planned by the studens incorporated a lot of memories about Myles. As part of the liturgy the Yr 10 students had prepared farewell messages which were then attached to a giant Canadian Maple tree, which the students refer to as Myles' Tree. This tree will be planted in the schoold grounds outside the music room as a memorial to Myles and all he contributed to the life of this school in his time with us.
I would particularly like to thank the students who assisted in the planning of the mass and who took on various roles in the liturgy. I would like to commend them on the way they farewelled a close friend. At the colclusion of the Mass, Myles' mum and dad Martin & Cynthia thanked the students for their prayerful tribute to Myles. On behalf of the college, I presented them with a book of memories which the students had compiled over the past 10 days.
Whilst we always have to move on from these tragic times, everyone can move on comforted by the fact that we have respectfully and sacredly farewelled Myles and that we always remember him. Our reflection today is the words which we used as a refrain throught the Mass, which we feel summed up Myles Caruana's life. May his Soul Rest In Peace.
PRAYER:
Live Life, Love Others, Care Deeply, Bring Joy, Live Life to the Full.
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Thank You from Miss Janelle Parker (Myles' PC Teacher since Yr 7)
Dear Martin, Cynthia & Mace,
Thank You for your kind letter and for thinking of me during your time of sorrow. When you faced the most difficult time of your lives, I was able to see how generous and big-hearted you all are as a family unit. Myles was so blessed to belong to such a loving family. I feel lucky that I was able to be a part of Myles' life in some way. My mission now is to embrace the character of Myles and remind my homeroom of how welcoming he was to everybody and how he was able to unite us as a group. As you said, he has left a void and all we can do is to remember his approach to life and take this on board.
I think of you all often and wish you all the very best.
Lots of Love
Janelle Parker
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Letter from Professor Kemp (Myles' Immunologist for 13 Years now at Sydney's Westmead Children's Hospital
17 May, 2006.
Dear Mrs Caruana,
I was down in Melbourne the other week and heard about Myles from Dr Joanne Smart (Myles current Immunologist) when I was asking about some of my special patients. I was very sorry to hear what had happenned and send my condolences. It was always a pleasure for me to see yourself and Myles, even though the severity of his asthma attacks were of concern to me. It seems there a small group of patients that can develop very severe attacks of asthma which the preventer medicines do not necessarily control and we are unsure as to why this is so. I wish you and your family well in the future and I know how much you will miss Myles. His cheerful approach to life made me glad to have seen him.
With my Best Wishes.
Andrew Kemp FRACP PhD
Professor of Paediatric Allergy
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In Memory of Myles Caruana by Mrs Rosalba D'Astoli-Iannuzzi (Teacher CRC St Albans)
My first encounter was Gr 6 Orientation Day 2002.
Now, there was definitely a confident character that stood out from the few. Being your House Leader and teaching you LOTE and RE. You brought laughter, our personal jokes and your opinions into the classroom of 7 Loddon 2003.
The 9 Menzies SOSE Class in 2005 was just the same, with your personality enlightening the classroom, especially in the "Real Game", where living at Head Court you were the politician of Shelbyville (our immaginary community), and using your "gift of the gab", you goverened and pushed the town uphill.
At the 2006 Community Day picnic this year, you proudly showed off your weight loss and your new shiny 'disc belt' and we both joked around about how I thought it looked quite queer.
Then sadly, Vince & I visited you a number of times at the Royal Children's Hospital, your condition and situation saddening us all.
And finally, the last encounter was on Saturday morning, the day before you passed away, Vince & I rushed to see you, as we knew it would be the last time, and we both stood there with very little to say. Without any movement, your breath so shallow, I held you hand, so warm, but dry, as you lay there, calm and peaceful listening to the reading of "Harry Potter", interrupted by the occasional
"Goodbye".
Thanks for your unforgettable memories Myles, for your contribution and light you brought to my classes, our friendship and your infamous cheeky smiles.
Rosalba D'Astoli-Iannuzzi.
Dear Martin, Cynthia & Mace,
We are deeply sorry for your loss. Myles touched many lives during his life. His absence will be prominent. Thank You for your openness during the last few weeks of Myles' life.
With Deepest Sympathy,
Vince & Rosalba Iannuzzi
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Memories of Myles by Mrs Peta Cesarec (Gr 5 Teacher)
I taught Myles in Gr 5 at Holy Eucharist Primary School.
From the moment Myles entered my grade for orientation day, he was full of questions about the coming year in Gr 5, I knew he was going to be a welcome asset to my class.
The year began and we moved on through the year with all we needed to do as a Gr 5 community.
Myles was always full of beans and was always there to make us all see the happy side to an unhappy situation. He made us all laugh and that was a great thing to get us through the day. At times I wondered how he could maintain this enthusiasm for life, every single day he was at school. He showed strength and courage unusual for one so young. Myles never played on his illnesses, at times when others probably would have been giving in, he would keep going. I attribute this to, the down to earth and extremely supportive parents and family that gave Myles encouragement to live his life to the full.
I remember, we were at camp and Myles and I were the last two people in the dining room still eating. Cynthia, you were with us and told Myles to sit next to me so he would finish his dinner. He turned to me and said "Miss, you work too much to eat; I work too much at talking to eat!". I couldn't keep a straight face. Also at camp, he and about 5 friends put on a rap dance to a song called "Keep Rollin' Rollin' Rollin': they were the stars of the show! Just another example of Myles' enthusiasm for doing what he loved doing. At times he would give me heart attacks in class by doing cartwheels across the floor when he was happy about something.
One very funny moment for me was when Myles had difficulty with his work, he would hesitate to tell me, as he did not want his mates to see that he was having trouble with something. He came to me with this idea: he said "Miss, when I can't do something and I need help, could you pretend to tell me off and send me to the wet area and while you pretend to tell me off, you be telling me how to get the answer!!!!. Ingenious I thought! He was extremely proud of his image amongst his friends and wanted to maintain that "coolness".
Myles did love being with his friends and tales of he sleepover for his birthday that year had me in fits of laughter! I think they saw the movie "Scary Movie" that night and all I heard from Myles and his friends from then on, were snippets of funny conversation from that movie! I felt for his parents and brother after hearing about the things he got upto that night.
Now sitting here and writing this tribute, I am laughing through my tears. All my memories of Myles are happy ones and that, I feel was Myles' greatest gift to everyone he came in contact with. I honestly cannot remember a negative memory of Myles.
So to you his family, I cannot express in words or deeds anything that could alleviate the pain you must be feeling at the loss of a most precious boy.
He has touched the hearts of everyone over time and I hope that in time you may feel comfort in the fact that the world was a better place because Myles was in it.
I will miss him. Peta Cesarec
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Our Thank You at Myles' School Mass
Martin, Mace & myself would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr O'Loughlin, the teachers, staff at CRC St Albans for their support in this last month. The visits to the hospital and our home has been appreciated as it has meant that people have taken time out of their busy lives to be a constant presence in a most trying and difficult time in our lives.
A big thank you also goes out to you, the students hear and to those who visited at the hospital to see Myles in ICU which is a very confronting and disturbing place. We don't wish you to remember Myles as he was in the the last month, but rather the presence he had in your lives upto this point.
Some of the memories that students and staff have brought to us have given us a lot of comfort and strength, because as parents we always think that our children are special. But what makes it heartwarming is the fact that others think so too.
Myles always had that unique ability to make people feel special. The time he spent with people always made them feel better, even if you were ready to throttle him, and he seemed to do this even at those times when he didn't feel that good himself.
I could go on and on about him and that's a mother's/father's privilege, but we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your efforts here today.
Take a little of Myles' philosophy of life with you as you go ahead into adulthood.
- Don't make excuses
- Do your best, live life to the full
- Make each day count
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His Eulogy as written and delivered by Principal Mr Brian O'Loughlin - CRC St Albans
MYLES CARUANA
Live Life, Love Others, Care Deeply, Bring Joy, Live Life to the Full
We particularly gather today to remember Myles and to give thanks for Myles' Life. In our gospel reading we hear how Jesus has difficulty in trying to get people to understand the Kingdom of God.
Each of us should be able to identify with Jesus for right here and now we are all having difficulty in coming to understand why Myles has left us.
What we do know is that so many people miss Myles and we miss him because we all appreciated Myles.
In the gospel, Jesus uses the story that the Kingdom is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds. So the kingdom starts from humble beginings, but which will grow into the huge tree which can even house all the birds in its branches.
However the tree will only grow into this huge size if it is nurtured, watered and given the right nutrients.
This is equally true of the Kingdom of God. The place where we are all equal, all are loved and are appreciated. This will only come about if we all do our part.
The way we live our life determines that and we do our part by living our lives to the full; using the gifts we have and basing all our relationships on a firm belief that everyone is sacred and deserves to be treated with respect and finally striving to do our best in everything we do.
We particularly gather today to remember Myles and we celebrate his life because he has done his part:
- He lived life to the full
- He used his gifts to the full
- He had the right attitude to life
- He included people
- He welcomed people
- He did not complain about the fact that he did not have everything
They say that health is the major gift we are given. Myles was not given a great gift in this area. But he did not allow that to affect the other parts of his life.
By doing all these things, some would say that Myles did his part in building the kingdom of God. But if we are truly to appreciate Myles, we need to recognise that Myles' death has presented each and everyone of us with a challenge. Because if we really appreciate him, we will never forget him and will want to do something to show our appreciation.
Never forget him. A tree will be planted in the school. It will be Myles' tree, and while you students are here and when you return, it will be a contstant reminder of Myles. The farewell messages the students have written and hung on the tree, will be placed in a bowl. They will then be placed in the soil around the tree, to help the tree grow because those farewell messages contain memories of all the good things Myles has done, which has helped build the Kingdom of God in our School.
Do something to show our appreciation. The highest compliment we can show a person is to copy them and we can show our appreciation of Myles by never forgetting him and making sure that his life has an impact on us and we do that by doing the little things: Love others as Myles did, Care deeply as Myles did, Bring joy as Myles did and live life to the full as Myles did.
Because if we do this, we too will be like Myles and leave this world a better place for us having been here. And that will really show that Myles' short life has really had an impact on us - what better compliment can you pay to a person
I said at the family mass for Myles that I wish to thank Myles' Mum & Dad for choosing our school. I want to be in a position to say that to all parents, because all students will have done what Myles has.
Can you imagine the effect of this school on the world with 600 Myles'.
That's the challenge that Myles has left us.
Let's not let him down.
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His Eulogy - as written and delivered by his mother at his Funeral Mass
Myles was born on 18 Oct 1990. One of the first things that was apparent was his ability to smile. His catch phrase was "Myles & Myles of Smiles" and that has remained. His first few weeks were mostly uneventful, but that was to change. We won't dwell too much on Myles' trials, but suffice to say that he suffered from Eczema from about 6 weeks, Asthma from about 7 months and his Food Allergies came into play when he started eating solid foods. He also suffered from Osetoporosis in his spine. He never dwelt on his problems but went out and did the things he could, just maybe a little diffently from others. Actually very differently.
Myles went to Holy Eucharist Primary School and then onto Catholic Regional College where he was in Yr 10. For us, Myles' school years alternated between brilliance and despair at times. The saying When it was good, it was very, very good - and when it was bad it was ugly applies here. From his many reports, he was always the first to put up his hand and volunteer for anything that needed to be done. In one of his drama classes, they were doing the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. It was decided to reverse the roles of Jack & the giant. Mark who is very tall was to play Jack and Myles was to play the giant. I'm sure this would have appealed to his sense of humor. Myles also did Taekwondo & Gymnastics as his many activities and did well at both, but especially at Gymnastics. His gymnastics team effort in 2002 came 2nd. overall in the state and him 2nd. overall individually in the state of Victoria. He was so proud and we were even prouder.
After his last Intensive Care admission three years ago, he could not perform gymnastics at competition or any other level. He was diagnosed with Osteoporosis in his spine and could not play any contact sports. He gave that up and took up golf instead.
Myles wanted to be a Director and we had many a conversation about this. In his mind, this would have been the vehicle to vent his creativity, because if there was a different way to view anything, Myles always managed to see this. I'm sure that a lot of you would be familiar with a Frederick Mc Cubbin painting called "The Pioneer". It is a triple painting which depicts:
1. a young couple, wagon in the background with the wife staring into the distance
2. the same couple a little older, the woman carrying a young child, the man clearing the bush with a cottage in the background
3. a young man clearing a gravesite with a city in the distance.
For most people, this seems to be a lovely story progressing thru the generations, for Myles it was a Work Cover Advertisment. Think It, Talk It, Work It.
Over the last few days we have had so memories of Myles:
- His godfather, Maurice said that he always admired him for his ability to just get on with it. He put his puffer, epi pen, inhalers in his bum bag and never looked back.
- His teachers, his talent for mimicking and lightening up the moment
- His ability to talk to anyone of any age with ease and confidence
- A cousin's grandson who remembers Myles sharing his breakfast with him and who wants to know if Uncle Martin will still cook him the "special" french toast for him - of course he will
- The variety of music from Michael Buble to Michael Jackson to my favorite Kenny Rogers as well as all the modern groups
- Playing golf with his uncles Tano & Ainsley
- You only had to ask him to do anything and he was very obliging. This has been mentioned many times by his supervisors at Bunnings (where he worked)
I spoke to my Aunty Jean when Myles was in hospital and she was reminiscing about her 40th. wedding anniversary and saw a photo of Myles. For her it summed up everything that made Myles tick. It made her very happy that Myles was at peace and ready to be with the angels and God, but it did pose the question. Was God really ready for Myles? My thoughts are that God wanted him at any price.
Mac Killop CRC (Werribee), Seabrook Primary School (Point Cook), Emmaus Primary School (Sydenham) La Porchetta Restaurant (Sunbury) and both Altona and Essendon Hockey Clubs are all joining together to raise money by selling wristbands in Myles memory. They are engraved with the following - "Mylestone Strategy - Be Asthma Aware". These bands have been designed by his cousins who wanted to make a real difference in raising awareness of asthma. Proceeds will be donated to the Asthma Foundation, Victoria in Myles' name.
We were so proud when Myles said that he wanted to be an Organ Donor. He was most upset when they returned the form advising that as his parents and the fact that he was under 16 yrs still made us his decision making guardians. We know first hand in my family what this means in terms of a new life as five of my uncles and aunts have been organ recipients. The tissue bank has advised that Myles' corneas, heart valves, tissue and skin (for burn victims) were successfully harvested. For us it means that there is still a little piece of Myles out there somewhere.
Over the last few weeks, Martin and I have come to the amazing realisation the Myles has touched so many people. He work mates at Bunnings, many of whom are here today (where he started working in November 2005), his friends at school also here where it seems he had friends and associates from all year levels, his teachers, the many friends of his brother, his cousins, our friends and their children. I know that you all have memories to take with you. Treasure those memories.
They say that the measure of a man is the respect in which he is held. Myles might not have been a man, but it his humbling to see the respect in which he is held.
Myles' real legacy to us will be to remember tha life is too short to make excuses. He lived one day at a time and that message has been brought home to us only too keenly in these last few weeks.
Take time to smell the roses, do what you can when you can and live life without any regrets.
I know Myles did just and he packed a lot of living into his 15 years.
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