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The Yellow Ribbon Chapter was created in June 2000 in memory of a dear
beloved friend, sister, and daughter, Christina Chadderton. Christina
was a humanitarian, involved in all possible extra curricular activities
that were available. She was an advocate for Amnesty International, an
artist, a singer, a musician, a historian, a writer, but most of all a
perfectionist. Christina strived to be the best in all that she did,
and in fact she sometimes over estimated her capabilities which left her
with little time to relax. It was both her attribute as a person, but
also her greatest flaw. Hidden beneath the facade of cool and calm, was
a delicate and fragile girl crying for help.
A couple of years before the year of 2000, Christina was battling an
eating disorder that first derived from involuntary bulimia which turned
into voluntary. She spent a long time in the hospital recovering, and it turned out to be a horrific experience. The hospital personalities
treated all of the eating disorder patients as if they were filth, and
looked down upon them with disgust. From that year forward little by
little the smiles began to disappear from Christina, and eventually it
vanished from our world.
On March 29, 2000 Christina took her last breath of air, jumped off a
bridge and ended her life. It was a tragic ending to such a astonishing
person, but the memories and the lessons that she left behind are silent
words of honor and courage. Christina gave us the greatest gift of all,
knowledge of the true meaning of life. The lesson taught through her death is
that life is not something to be taken for granted, that we must reach
out to each other before it is too late, to never give up because
strength is something acquired not born with.
".....You only live once....." - Christina Chadderton (1999)
"What I hope to leave is a sense of the potential for human dignity.
May we all be kind to one another and reach out to each other before it
is too late." - Christina Chadderton (2000)
"Death is a celebration of life because it imposes a somewhat forgotten
sense of what it means to be alive." - Christina Chadderton (2000)
Please visit the Christina Chadderton Memorial Page
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