Sixteen-year-old Olivia Ceraolo wrote like she lived: with spirit, spunk and optimism. She died at home on Saturday.
By CATHERINE E. SHOICHET
Published October 19, 2004
PALM HARBOR - Olivia Jane Ceraolo was a competitive sailor, a violinist, a writer and, friends and family say, an inspiration.
The 16-year-old died at home Saturday (Oct. 16, 2004) after battling bone cancer for more than a year with optimism, impassioned poetry and online journal entries that drew an audience from around the world.
"She wanted to fight and win this battle more than anything, because she wanted to get back into things she loved to do," said Laura Langton, one of Miss Ceraolo's six aunts. "Sailing and biking and surfing and walking - she just did it all."
Olivia started sailing at the Clearwater Community Sailing Center when she was 8. She was hooked, and it wasn't long before she became a champion, competing nationally as a member of the United States Optimist Sailing Team.
"She was never fearful. There's something about sailing. It's just pure," said her mother, Carla Ceraolo. "She was out in the gulf in difficult weather. She never fretted about it. She took it on as a challenge, and she made tremendous friends."
In May 2003, doctors diagnosed Olivia with chondroblastic osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that is rare in adolescents. Support from friends and family and that same sense of adventure helped her deal with her diagnosis, Carla Ceraolo said.
Reguli Granger, 13, of St. Petersburg, sailed against Olivia in local regattas. She met Olivia four years ago in the Pinellas Youth Symphony, where they both played violin.
Reguli said she visited Olivia frequently in the hospital and talked with her on the phone.
"We had a lot in common ... she was like a big sister to me," Reguli said. "I looked up to her as a person I really admire."
Olivia graduated from Tarpon Springs Middle School and completed the ninth grade through the Pinellas County homebound program.
Though Olivia's illness eventually prevented her from continuing with sailing and other more physical activities, she kept writing and started her own Web site, www.caringbridge.org/fl/olivia last year.
The journal entries about her daily life and her struggle with cancer posted there were an inspiration to many, family members said.
Friends kept track of her progress on the site, but it was also a way for her to make new friends around the globe. Supportiv e e-mails poured in from as nearby as Clearwater and as far away as Italy and South Korea.
"I think it helped her to deal with all this, just to be expressing herself," Carla Ceraolo said. "She was really into it. I don't know what we would have done without it."
By Monday afternoon, more than 50 people had posted to the site offering condolences. Many of them noted Olivia's bright spirit and her determination.
And, of course, they thanked her for sharing her story.
Carla Ceraolo said the family plans to hand out one of Olivia's poems, Fighting Cancer , at the funeral. She wrote the poem shortly after her diagnosis, sitting in a hospital bed.
"I'm overwhelmed with what I hear," she wrote. "I sigh when I look in the mirror/ But nothing will keep me from standing strong."
Survivors include her parents, Carla and Paul Ceraolo, a brother, Ian, and a sister, Julia Ceraolo, all of Palm Harbor; her maternal grandparents, Rosalie and Dario Borselli of Clearwater; her paternal grandparents, Angela and Carmel Ceraolo of Weeki Wachee; an uncle, Mark Ceraolo of Palm Harbor; six aunts, Cindy Harris of Palm Harbor, Lisa Miyares, Laura Langton and Alba Handfield, all of Jacksonville, Susan Pickles of Melbourne, and Anita Hadley of Marietta, Ga.; and several nephews, nieces and cousins.
Visitation will take place at Espiritu Santo Catholic Church, 2405 Philippe Parkway in Safety Harbor, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Funeral services will be held there Thursday at 1 p.m.
