B.C. mom honours late daughter's birthday with friends committing acts of kindness in her name
CTV
It's been four years since Sarala Godine's daughter Shannon Pearson died of cancer at age 42. Now, Godine invites Shannon's friends to mark her daughter's birthday with acts of kindness each year.
“Flowers make people happy,” Sarah says with a smile, arranging hundreds of bright petals into bold bouquets.
The professional florist says Shannon has always made people smile too.
“She’s the warmest, kindest person ever,” Sarah says.
Shannon’s mom, Sarala Godine, says her daughter’s been that way since she was a young child.
“(Shannon) couldn’t say, ‘Happy birthday,’ so she’d run around the house saying, ‘Happy to be! Happy to be!’” Sarala recalls. “Which is how she lived her life — happy to be.”
Happy to be a friend spreading smiles. Happy to be a mom raising three children. Happy to just be living, even when she faced dying.
“She hung on to that belief until the end came,” Sarala says.
Shannon died from cancer at 42.
