Today my sister Irene and I were planning on going to mom's house to clean out and prepare for a yard sale of her earthly treasures. I got there and had been there for a while when Irene called and said that she was going to pick up some salads from Durangos. I said perfect I will wait till you are closer to send my order. About an hour goes by and she arrived and said she was going to have Hannemann pick up the food. She ordered me a pork salad. I said OK never had that before but sounds great. She ordered 2 pork salads and 1 fajita salad. Hannemann brought me my salad and I went to eat it and it was a marinated chicken salad exactly how I always order it. I went out and asked Irene if she was sure she ordered a pork salad and she said yes I ordered 2. Then she asked Hannemann if his was a pork salad and it was. I just looked up at the sky and said, "Thanks mom for correcting my order"
Saturday is here and it's time to have Mom's Celebration of Life.
I am so heartbroken and can't believe we are doing this and that she is really gone.
She looked beautiful and I know she was so ready to move onto the next stage of her life with our dad doing work on the other side as a missionary companionship.
She knew that she could do so much more for her family on the other side of the veil.
This was before the Celebration meeting started and we were there seeing mom just with our family.
ALL Of Mom and Dad's Posterity
7 original Ah Quin's: Tonya, Clayton, Max, Joe, Irene, Adam & Tia
Spouses: Bryan, Julee, Sunshine, Janette, Rebecca, Andy
41 Grandkids and 5 Great Grandkids
60 TOTAL
ALL BECAUSE 2 PEOPLE FELL IN LOVE
All 7 of us as Clay gives the dedication of the grave.
ST. GEORGE — Walk into The Vault dance studio in St. George on any given day and you will likely hear the teachers leading their students in cheers of affirmations.
“Say, ‘I’ve got this!'” “Say, ‘I can do hard things!'” “Say, ‘I’m awesome,'” the cheers go.
And the students respond.
The affirmations are part of a culture of positivity that studio owner Tia Stokes has instilled in her teachers and students, as they all strive to use dance for a bigger purpose.
In addition to the dance studio, Stokes is the founder of hip hop dance groups Kalamity and Kaos, which for 13 years have been helping families going through real life calamities by putting on benefit concerts and donating all of the proceeds.
The Stokes family poses for a photo on their porch, Orem, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of the Together for Tia GoFundMe page, St. George News
Now dancers, along with family members and friends, are rallying around a new cause … Stokes herself.
Stokes was recently diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
“We never thought it would come full circle, when a ‘kalamity’ would hit home with our beloved Tia,” part of a message on the #togetherfortia GoFundMe page, said.
Since founding Kalamity and Kaos, Stokes and her dancers, who live by the slogan “dance for a cause, not for applause,” have helped over 50 families and raised nearly $600,000.
Kalamity dancer Jori Christensen, a family nurse practitioner, said Stokes had been complaining of upper respiratory infections that had been dragging on for months.
“They seemed to come right after the other.” Christensen said. “I think everyone, including herself, just shrugged it off as her working too hard and her immune system being down because of it.”
Stokes was being treated for pneumonia and would seemingly get better only to have it come back worse, so she was advised to go to a clinic, Christensen said.
“I don’t think anybody was expecting that this would be her diagnosis, especially for how energetic and physically active she can be while being sick. It is quite a shock,” Christensen said.
In fact, just days prior to her diagnosis, Stokes was busy planning a virtual concert for the two causes that Kalamity and Kaos are supporting this year.
Christensen reflected on some advice that she said Stokes always gave during their rehearsals which seems to confirm how Stokes lives her life:
At our dance practice, she always said that ‘nothing is guaranteed, you never know when your life can change. You never know if it’s the last time you are going to hug someone, have a picture with them or dance together. So make it count. Dance like it’s your last time because you don’t know…’
Living Legacy
As family and friends prepare to support Stokes through her cancer journey, they shared some of the lasting impacts that Stokes has had on their lives, and the lives of others, so far.
A collage of Kalamity and Kaos performances created by Jori Christensen, St. George, Utah, dates not specified | Photos courtesy of Jori Christensen, St. George News
“Tia has been serving families facing their own personal life ‘Kalamitys’ since 2007. She has raised over half a million for people in need, most of them she hadn’t ever met before,” Kalamity dancer Holly Axtell, said.
Axtell added she feels blessed to have served alongside Stokes for five of those years.
“Tia goes above and beyond for anyone in any situation: Family, friend or stranger,” Axtell said.
Kalamity dancer and Vault dance teacher Chelsea Judd agreed.
Judd was on the receiving end of Stokes’s generosity in a unique way, when Stokes donated her eggs so that Judd was able to carry children and become a mother.
Judd’s two girls and Stokes’s four boys and one girl have a unique bond, as do the two mothers.
“I love her like a sister because of our strong bond,” Judd said. “I know after Tia beats this cancer, she will continue blessing lives, complimenting strangers, dancing and loving our girls.”
Stokes is starting treatments Sunday, and because of visitor restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic she will be going through tests and treatment alone at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City for at least 30 days, Axtell said.
“Imagine going through all of these scary things physically alone. Tia would have been by anyone’s side in a heartbeat if roles were reversed and it breaks my heart that we cannot physically be there with her,” Axtell added.
Stokes’s sister, Irene Ah Quin said that the family has been checking in on her often through the Zoom app and keeping her spirits up. Ah Quin, who runs the Main Ohana Movement dance studio in Hurricane, also called on the Southern Utah community to rally behind her sister who has had such a positive impact here.
“Tia has always been a great server to the community of Southern Utah in helping those struggling with their very own personal life calamities,” Ah Quin said. “Now is that time to come together and unite one big Southern Utah family and be ‘Together for Tia’ and do for her what she’s taught all of us for the last 13 years.”
Members of the Kalamity dance team including founder Tia Stokes (center) pose for a promotional photo, St. George, Utah, date not specified | Photo courtesy of Tia Stokes’s Facebook page, St. George News
And Christensen is positive the community will respond.
“I know that the generosity and love she has given will come full circle back to her 100-fold,” she said.
Despite the diagnosis and the isolation, Stokes posted on social media that she plans to fight the cancer and that she doesn’t feel alone.
In a post to her Instagram, she said though she is physically alone in the room, she feels the love and prayers being sent her way.
“We got this,” Stokes said in the post.
Stokes is able to receive letters and packages as long as they don’t contain homemade food or living things (plants, flowers, etc…)
Letters can be sent to the following address:
LDS Hospital C/O Tia Stokes 8th Avenue, C Street Room #E-803 Salt Lake City, Utah 84143
“If Tia has made you smile, inspired you, or impacted your life in any way, I encourage you to reach out and send your love,” Axtell said.
It was a Thursday evening and we had been praying for Tia because she had been so sick for months and had some tests done. She first was tested for COVID and it came back negative. Then they did some blood work on her and we were waiting for the results.
We received a text from Tia and it said, "I just received the results and they said that I have AML-Acute Myeloid Leukemia and I am being admitted into the hospital immediately. Please pray for me"
We were swimming as a family and I happened to look at my phone and I freaked out and read the text to the family. Cambria, Cecilee and I immediately ran into the house and started crying and hugging each other. We gathered our family and had a prayer for Tia and the Dr;s and started our fast right then!!!
Tia shared with us how it all happened. She said that the Dr. came to their home. The Dr. is a guy who coaches with Andy for Timpview Football, Dr. Josh Arnold. He came over with tears in his eyes, and Tia told him, "Do NOT sugar coat it, I already know it's bad, so give it to me". He said, "Tia it's bad, you have AML and that's the worst Leukemia. We need you to be admitted to the hospital within the hour at LDS Hospital". Tia said that earlier before they got home they were at the store and she was waiting for Andy in the car, she heard my dad's voice say, "Tia, WE GOT THIS" that was when she knew she had bad news coming.
Dr. Arnold continued with the bad news and looked at Andy and said, "You are not going to like what I am going to say, you CANNOT go into the hospital with her. You need to drop her off at the door and she has to be there by herself for the next 30 days because of the COVID 19 Restrictions". Andy was NOT HAPPY and started crying and was pissed off. He took her to the hospital and called his friend Chaz to come and meet him in the parking lot to help him give Tia a blessing before she went into the hospital. She wanted one picture with her family before she left and this was the one. Her kids did not know what had just happened they just thought mom had COVID and was going to the hospital to get medicine. But Andy and Tia were crushed and not wanting to let each other go.
She got to the hospital and Andy was able to walk her into the hospital after the nurse took his temperature. He hugged and kissed her goodbye for 30 days.
Tia is now going to fight this battle alone in a hospital room for 30 days, but she will have an army outside all around the world fighting with her. The news spread quickly that the owner and founder of the Vault dance studio who danced for a cause for over 50 families in the last 12 years and raised $650,000 for them is now fighting for her life and her cause has come FULL CIRCLE.
Sydnee was suppose to be proposed to at Laguna Beach on our family vacation.
Due to the COVID 19 drama we ended up at Snow Canyon State Park in the sand dunes.
We planned on having family pictures and then when Sydnee and Parker were to have their picture taken he was going to get on one knee and pop the question.
We ended up having all of the grandkids give Sydnee a rose and then Parker came with the rest of the flowers and got down on one knee.
We were all in the distance and watched the proposal.
We rented a 15 passenger van to go to Laguna Beach, California. We just thought that it would be fun to travel together and visit. As we were traveling down we got word from a friend, Shelly Hansen that said President Trump is declaring a state of emergency with the State of California and may possibly close the borders. She said you should still be able to get in. BUT what happens when we want to come home to Utah. So we pulled over in Las Vegas and had breakfast as a family and discussed what we were going to do. Turn around and have a STAYCATION or continue traveling and take the risk in California? Well we decided as a family to go home and have a STAYCATION!!!
We found a mall in Las Vegas and went shopping for a little while and then headed back to St. George. We then went to dinner at The Habit and enjoyed visiting with each other.
The next day we went to Cambria's and played SPIKE BALL in the backyard and then went CanAm riding and then went to the Pickleball courts and played for a few hours.
Sunday we had home centered church and had it in our home.
It was so spiritual and listening to each other bare testimony.
We then went to Snow Canyon Park for family pictures and came home for dinner.
It was such a fun weekend spending time with one another.
It was awesome having Cheri, Celina and Mom over to Cecilee and Angels home to enjoy the evening with us. While they were there, Mia gave a performance of a lifetime to Frozen 2 with Elsa singing "Into The Unknown" with dramatic motions while singing.
She was hilarious and we all enjoyed watching her.
