Celebrating 'angel-versary'

Family, friends will meet to remember Andrew Santana

By Emily Kay Shrader
Teens in the Newsroom

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Andrew Santana was a son, brother, student and aspiring musician. He attended Enochs High School and loved rapping and making musical beats with his friends. He was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 2007 and after a year of treatment passed away peacefully on Oct. 27, 2008.

Andrew was 15 and at the beginning of his sophomore year of high school. After his death, his parents, Jesse and Ernestina Santana, dedicated themselves to supporting organizations that fund cancer research.

Jesse Santana joined Team Challenge, a running group for families that have been affected by cancer. He is training to run a marathon in Andrew's honor in March. Both parents participate in Relay for Life each year to raise cancer awareness and contribute to fighting it.

Andrew's family will hold a candlelight remembrance ceremony Tuesday to honor Andrew's "angel-versary." The ceremony will be 6:30 p.m. at the Santana home, 2434 Garden Oak Drive in Riverbank.

Stories about Andrew's life will be shared and the ceremony will be filmed by the Cancer Outreach Program. Ernestina Santana will have a journal for guests to write stories in so Andrew's younger brother, Zae, can "get to know" his big brother. There also will be information on how to donate to a scholarship account started by Ernestina Santana in remembrance of Andrew.

So many people were affected by Andrew's death. Jessica Rivas, 16, a junior at Enochs High, met him in sixth grade and the two quickly became best friends.

His death changed her life. "I don't look at anything the same," Jessica said. "It really opened my eyes. I realized that tomorrow isn't promised."

Andrew was loved and admired for his passion and dedication to making and recording music. Copies of his music will be available at the candlelight ceremony.

"Our son Andrew was full of life, living every moment of it; even from when he was a baby," Ernestina Santana said. "He's so dearly missed and we want to constantly share with others what a wonderful, free-spirited, fun-loving person Andrew was."

Emily Kay Shrader is a senior at Enochs High School and a member of The Bee's Teens in the Newsroom journalism program.