Remembering Audrianna

Hazleton, Luzerne County -- "My daughter wouldn't want people to cry for her. She was never a sad child. She always had a smile. She was always happy." said Angela Bartol. A week after six-year-old Audrianna Bartol lost her battle to cancer, her life is being celebrated. Family and friends of the little girl, gathered at Faith United Church of Christ in Hazleton on Saturday, dressed in bright, cheerful colors. "She wanted to have something big and bright and happy, and that's what today is," added Angela. She said her daughter loved butterflies, balloons and the colors of the rainbow. Audrianna didn't want tears after her passing, but stories shared about her and the life she lived. A life her grandfather described as heroic. "Cancer never held her down at all from day one. From the time she went to CHOP to her last days. She fought until the end," said John Kasarda. Audrianna's remains were placed in a beautiful pink urn surrounded by butterflies. "She loved butterflies, everything butterflies. Her clothes, her pajamas. She wanted to be a butterfly," said Dena Oberto. Audrianna also loved to live life! The 6-year-old had a bucket list filled with all kinds of dreams and adventures. "She wanted to go up in a hot air balloon like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Even though her mommy was terrified of heights we went. When she was up there, we were stuck in a cloud and the first thing she said was "Mom, is this what heaven looks like?" I said, "I think so baby." And she said, "then I would never be afraid to go there." Audrianna's loved ones wrote on balloons and sent their special messages into the sky hoping they would reach her soul.