Mattie Eileen Aiello

Waunakee-Mattie Eileen Aiello shed her earthly tent as the sun shone gloriously upon this most exquisite being at the exact hour that the morning becomes the day on Saturday March 19, 2011. We are crushed under the weight of her absence but rest in the knowledge of the exquisite rapture that awaited her heavenly arrival. Her body has been set free from the stranglehold of cancer and has joined the soul that leukemia could not steal. She lived her life on her own terms for the past 17 years, 87 days, 6 hours and 13 minutes. She cracked our hearts wide open so we could absorb the beams of love and light she so graciously bestowed. She was compelled by a force we could not see to live her final month as she wished. She traveled to meet her beloved Red Sox in Florida and then on to her first home in Colorado where her heart bloomed in the presence of family and old friends. She has branded us all with the fluorescent intensity of her life. A love shine so bright that we couldnt possibly turn away or ever forget. We have no words for the gratitude we feel for the nurses and doctors at AFCH, HospiceCare, for friends new and old, family by blood, family by friendship, her beloved dog Sparkles who would not leave her side, and the most beautiful assemblage of teenagers our hearts have ever known. She is survived by her beloved family including her parents, Thomas & Mary (Nickels) Aiello; her bother, Riley; paternal grandmother, Dolores (Richard) Aiello-Gormley; maternal grandfather, Carl (Mac) Nickels, Jr.; aunts and uncles, Paul (Randi) Aiello Jr., Joanne Aiello, Kathy (Dan) Romero, Rick (Barb) Nickels, Paul (Colleen) Nickels, Chip (Pam) Nickels, Chris (Jackie) Nickels and Carrie Nickels; cousins, other relatives and many, many friends. She was preceded in death by her paternal grandfather, Paul Aiello, maternal grandmother, Mary Nickels and an uncle, John Nickels. A memorial visitation will be held on Wednesday, March 23, 2011 from 4-8:00 p.m. at the Winn-Cress Funeral Home, Waunakee. A memorial service celebrating her life will be held on Thursday, March 24, 2011, at 6:00 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, 5763 Hwy Q, Waunakee with Pastor Kirk W. Morledge presiding. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the ""Make A Wish Foundation"" or to Leukemia Research at American Family Childrens Hospital would be appreciated.