Michelle's Life...

Michelle Marie Lunn was born on November 9, 1984 at Hurley Hospital in Flint Michigan to Michael and Suzanne.  She weighed 7 pounds and 9 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.  She had the most beautiful rosy complexion and cute cubby cheeks.  She was the first born to her parents and the joy of their lives.  When she turned one she moved a few miles west to Swartz Creek, MI.  There she would call this city home for the next 11 years.  At age 2 1/2 her brother Matthew was born and she became a big sister.

 Michelle attended Syring Elementary, St. Mary’s Catholic School and Swartz Creek Middle School.  Some of the things Michelle enjoyed doing while living in Swartz Creek were playing basketball, softball, being a pom pom girl and taking dance classes.

In 7th grade, she moved crossed the state to Ada. There she attended Forest Hills Central Middle School as well as the High School.  While at Forest Hills, Michelle met some wonderful friends including the love of her life Mitch.  Some of Michelle’s passions while in high school were debate and participating with the St. Robert's youth group where she enjoyed being a leader on many retreats.  She also loved to attend high school football games where she could cheer for one of her favorite football player Mitch.  

Michelle loved traveling. Some of Michelle’s favorite trips were with her cousins Jessica and Cierra to Grandma Nan’s house in California and Georgia. She also loved family reunions in the Upper Peninsular, Seattle, Traverse City, Savannah GA, Toccoa Georgia, Baltimore, and spending time around the 4th of July at Bear Lake with her special friend Sadie from Swart Creek. Two places she always wanted to go but never got the chance were Florida and Las Vegas...she had high hopes of going there some day.

Michelle attended Aquinas College as a freshman for one year. There she made some wonderful friends but decided she couldn’t stand being away from Mitch and transferred to Ferris State University. From then on she was never more than a short walk away from her Mitch. At Ferris she spent her last three wonderful years with the love of her life, pursuing a career in business and making some wonderful friends. This summer her boyfriend (of over 6 years) landed a job in Midland after his graduation and she looked forward to the weekends so they could spend time together.  *Mitch later told us that in August 07 (after saving up some money for a nice ring)  he had planned on asking Michelle for her hand in marriage.

She loved her family…especially having the whole gang around at family parties or going to   family reunions to hang with her cousins. Michelle was never far from her camera and loved taking pictures of all the good times she spent with her friends. She had that special eye for a beautiful landscape too...and always saw the beauty all around her. We used to kid her about her driving...to put it nicely, it wasn't good.  She managed to get into over 13 fender benders in her first two years of her driving.  Most she would say...weren't her fault. 

We heard she also loved to dance...even when she turned older.  One of the letters I received from a friends noted that her signature line was "Break into a dance party", and she would always get everyone around her to join in. Her old room-mate also mentioned how she would wake up early in the morning and start the day off dancing. She always told mom & dad she didn't see color until after noon...and we aren't quit sure why she always got so embarrassed when we got up to boogie ...sounds like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree after all.  She also was an avid letter writer.  Every gift she received followed a hand-written thank you note, and she always made sure to write her relatives serving over-seas while in the military. 

This summer she was working at URS as an intern and Applause Catering (she worked over 50 plus  hours a week)  when she turned ill.  She was admitted to Lacks Cancer Center on June 14, 2007 and was told she had Leukemia (ALL).  Michelle fought hard and took every blood test, procedure, biopsy, and chemotherapy as a real trooper. (She said..."what else choice do I have...I want to beat this...")  After good news about the blast cells being almost gone she  developed complications from her disease when her immune system was compromised.  Her body was unable to handle the infections that she developed  and her body went into sepias shock , and ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) .  She was then admitted to St. Mary's ICU for approximately 14 days.   Just 38 days from when she was admitted into the hospital...a precious life was lost.  Michelle never returned home as she had wished....she never got the opportunity to finish college, never married or had children, and never said "Good-bye" to her friends and family.  She did though...have family and great friends that loved her, and will miss her forever. 

During her short stay at Lacks Cancer Center (3 weeks) she developed a new found appreciation for nurses as well as all medical professionals and just couldn’t believe all they did.  She told us that when she got better she wanted to help others who had this disease (children) and thought she might want to get involved with either the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, or Gilda's club... to give back... Michelle never got the opportunity to get involved with these groups as she had wished.  

She had a strong drive to fight her leukemia...  but as it turned out God had a different plan for her.

She is sadly missed...but never will be forgotten.