Sydney Marie Dudley

DUDLEY, SYDNEY MARIE - age 9 of Knoxville TN, passed away at Children's Hospital Friday night, March 12, 2010. Sydney was a student at Shannnondale Elementary School and had been battling Neuroblastoma (cancer) for over five years. Sydney was this bright light in a world that was sometimes not so bright. Cancer was all that Sydney knew but it surely did not define her. She lived her life with a smile on her face. She never met a stranger. She told her Mommy every day that she was the best Mommy she ever had. She spent hours upon hours playing with her Daddy and loved to talk about how much she looked like him and that she was a Daddy's girl. She fought this disease with courage, grace and happiness that seemed impossible for such a bleak prognosis. She is our Hero. She adored her big sister Baillie and never received a gift that she didn't want one just like it for her sissy. Sydney never complained. She never asked why me. She just accepted. She just lived. And so shall we. We shall live because Sydney lived. We shall accept this as God's will because that is what Sydney did. She loved her family so much and spent the last few weeks of her life so happy. She had lots of visitors from her aunt and uncle and grandparents and loved working puzzles with them and eating and talking about her family. In her own way, she was saying goodbye. She died just a few short hours after her family returned to Ohio. She had been treated for so long and appeared to be getting better. Hers was a sudden flight to heaven. We feel that God spared us from having to watch her suffer for a long period of time. Children's Hospital became a huge part of our life in the past 5 1/2 years. They became our family. They cried with us.. rejoiced with us.. and are now grieving alongside us. Sydney loved every single person up there and that was truly her second home. She loved her Dr. Malik. We can't thank enough all of the love and support that they have all shown us. Vermont also became a second home to us. We spent a lot of time there seeking out treatments for Sydney with a wonderful Dr. Sholler who is devoting her life to Neuroblastoma. Every single person in that state made us feel welcome and touched our lives with their kindness. Sydney was a third grader at Shannondale Elementary School and even though she didn't get to go this last year, we were blessed by their love. There is not enough time in the day to thank every single person who has touched our life in this journey with our baby girl. Just know that we remember every kind word.. every prayer. We do want to say a special thanks to our neighbor and friend Michele for being there Friday night and every day since. Dr. Malik for being there with us. Sandy Foster for also coming and crying with us and the emergency room nurses and doctors who tried very hard to save our girl. We will not be having a traditional funeral service for our baby girl. Sydney lived her life giggling and smiling.. loving and laughing.. and so shall we. We will be cremating her and bringing her home with us where she belongs. We will also be having a great celebration of her life at a later date. Sydney is preceded in death by grandmother Leslie Hamilton and sister Abigail Dudley. She is survived by parents Michael Dudley and Rhonda Roberts Dudley of Knoxville TN; sister Baillie Dudley of Knoxville TN; great-grandmother Joyce Carey of North Matewan WV; grandparents Randy and Geraldine Roberts of Willow Wood OH; aunts Angela Fields of Williamson WV, Kimberly Payne of Ironton OH, and Melissa Stewart of Willow Wood OH; uncles Randy Roberts of Huntington WV, David Roberts of Waterloo OH, and Thomas Roberts of Huntington WV.

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Sydney Marie Dudley

November 26, 2000 - March 12, 2010