I’ve been trying to find the words for Myranda, and nothing feels like enough.
Every sentence feels too small. Every memory feels impossible to fit onto a page. The truth is, there are some losses that don’t make sense no matter how many times you turn them over in your mind, and losing Myranda is one of them.
I keep thinking about who she was outside of all of this.
Not the appointments. Not the scans. Not the treatments.
Just Myranda.
A kid who loved her family with her whole heart.
A kid who loved her dog.
A kid who loved making TikToks, singing along to songs, joking around, and doing all the normal things kids should get to do.
That’s who she was.
That’s who she should be remembered as.
We met because we shared a reality most people never have to understand. We both knew what it was like to live with things that were bigger and scarier than they should have been. We both understood that sometimes the only way to survive hard days is to laugh at them. We both understood dark humor and sarcasm and the strange friendships that grow when people are trying to find light in places that don’t seem to have much of it.
But cancer wasn’t what made her special.
It wasn’t what made people love her.
It wasn’t what made her who she was.
What made her special was her heart.
It was the way she could still smile.
The way she could still make people laugh.
The way she could still be a kid despite carrying things that no kid should ever have to carry.
I think that’s why this hurts so much.
Because when someone has been sick for a long time, people sometimes forget to picture all the things they’re supposed to be doing instead.
Myranda wasn’t supposed to spend her childhood fighting for time.
She was supposed to be making memories with her friends.
She was supposed to be making more videos.
She was supposed to be singing songs she loved.
She was supposed to be spending lazy afternoons with her dog.
She was supposed to be growing up.
She was supposed to be making plans for a future she deserved to have.
She was supposed to have more birthdays.
More summers.
More holidays.
More ordinary days that seemed insignificant at the time but turn out to be everything when they’re gone.
She was supposed to have so much more.
And that’s the part I can’t stop thinking about.
Not because of who she was to me.
Because of who she was.
Because she was a child.
Because she was loved.
Because she mattered.
My heart breaks for her family in a way I don’t know how to put into words. You never had to wonder how much they loved her. It was written into every update, every picture, every story, every prayer people shared on their behalf.
She was surrounded by love.
The kind of love that fills a room.
The kind of love that changes people.
The kind of love that doesn’t disappear when someone dies.
I know there are no words that can ease what they’re carrying right now. There are no words that can make this fair. There are no words that can explain why a family has to say goodbye to someone they love this much.
But I hope they know how many people are grieving with them.
How many people are saying her name.
How many people are remembering her smile.
How many people are thinking about the joy she brought into the world during the time she was here.
The world feels a little less bright today.
Not because we lost a cancer patient.
Because we lost Myranda.
A daughter.
A granddaughter.
A friend.
A kid who loved her family.
A kid who loved her dog.
A kid who loved music, TikToks, laughter, and life.
A kid who should still be here.
If you’d like to support Myranda’s family during this unimaginable time, I’ve included links below for their merch store, meal train, and GoFundMe. If you’re able to help, I’m sure every bit means more than words can say.
And if you can’t, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Please say her name.
Please remember her.
Please remember that before she was ever a diagnosis, she was a little girl who was deeply loved.
Rest easy, sweet girl.
You were a beautiful light in a world that desperately needed one.
You were loved beyond measure.
And you always will be. 💜
Support Myranda’s Family
Merch Store:
https://the-ran-collective-shop.fourthwall.com/collections/all
Meal Train / Family Support:
https://www.giveinkind.com/inkinds/O2Y6M6V/hold-hands-with-the-mccraney-s
GoFundMe:
https://gofund.me/3bd01a25c
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