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Meaghan Stadtlander and Joanna Yusaitis have shared a lot. The two seniors at Catholic Central High School in Troy have been friends since Kindergarten, sharing sleepovers and struggles.

This year, they became published authors. The girls' story of friendship overcoming hardship was published in Visions, a catechetical magazine.

In the article, Meaghan and Joanna (who met at St. Ambrose School in Latham; see a previous story at www.evangelist.org) share Joanna's battle with cancer and Meaghan's grief after the death of her mother.

Joanna was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease in fifth grade. Chemotherapy, radiation treatments and surgeries led to her losing her hair, gaining weight and losing her voice.

Joanna recalled, "Meaghan was one of the only people outside of my family that I would take my wig off in front of because I was just so comfortable with her."

Said Meaghan: "I both supported and admired Joanna's courage throughout that year."

When Meaghan was 13, her mother was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. In 2005, Meaghan's mother died of the disease.

"I think that God had a plan when Joanna and I became friends," Meaghan remarked. "That plan was for us to be able to lean on each other when we needed it the most."

Sleepovers at each other's homes helped: Meaghan could escape from her grief for a little while; Joanna could be a regular kid instead of a kid with cancer.

Now, the girls say writing about their struggles wasn't difficult: "This kind of story helps other people," Joanna said.

Meaghan added, "It was easier to write about it than to talk about it."

Joanna said cancer strengthened her faith. She learned that staying positive can help. Mea-ghan hopes writing about coping with her mother's death helps other children who lose a loved one: "I first focused on why was my mom taken from me. Now, I'm grateful for the time I had with my mom."

The girls will go their separate ways in the fall: Joanna will attend St. Joseph's College in Vermont; Meaghan, SUNY-Cortland.

But "we are absolutely going to get webcams for college," Joanna declared.

(06/10/10) [[In-content Ad]]

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