Celebrant Pam Meily Vetter


	Celebrating Life Everyone Has A Story...

Natalie Narssiyan was born in 1984 in Houston, Texas, but moved to Los Angeles when she was only two-months-old. In 1989, after her parents' divorce, she moved with her mother and brother to Glendale and attended John Marshall Elementary School. Natalie was a happy, fun child. She was goofy and liked to laugh. She loved music from a young age and she was artistic. In 1993, Amy married Jerry Skrivanek and they moved to Montrose, California, where she attended La Crescenta Elementary School. The kids liked Jerry very much because he was calm, patient and nice. A funny thing happened one day when Jerry took Natalie and Artin to the a park. Jerry will never forget that day. Little Natalie looked up at Jerry and said, "Wow, you're tall!" Then, she slapped him on the butt and they all laughed. In 1994, the family adopted Blackie, who was only one-month-old. In later years, Blackie became a big help to Natalie during her illness.

In 1998, Natalie was starting 9th grade at Crescenta Valley High School, when she felt ill. It took several months before she was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin's Lymphoma on October 8th, 1998, a few days before Artin's birthday. Natalie started treatment. She tried to go to school, but it was too much, so she started home schooling. She was still reaching for her dreams because she wanted to become a pediatrician and take care of children. There were many chemotherapy and radiation treatments over the years. There were additional challenges associated with the treatments as well. She gained weight and lost weight, leading to further treatment. One of the prayers that became important in her life was The Serenity Prayer.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Through it all, she loved listening to music and it was a good therapy for her. She participated in drama and choir. She took voice lessons and became an amazing singer and songwriter. She also learned the piano and took some guitar lessons. She was fond of Led Zeppelin and wanted to play the guitar like Jimmy Page. When she was 18, Natalie performed in a recital. She sang beautifully and even performed a song that she wrote. By the time her senior year arrived, Amy arranged for Natalie to go to the prom and she loved it because the prom was held at Universal Studios. There was a music awards show taking place at the same time at Universal and Natalie loved seeing the famous singers. It encouraged her to pursue songwriting and the recording industry. Natalie finished high school a month before her classmates and earned her diploma in 2002. It was the same year that she met the famous singer Alicia Keys through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. She met Alicia in Los Angeles. They took photos together and the singer gave her a pair of signed shoes. She was thrilled with that meeting. She was also thrilled when Jerry bought her a brand new white Mustang to drive. She was feeling down in the hospital when Jerry handed her the manual and the key to the car. She got out of the hospital in two days to drive her new car. Even though she got into an accident with that car, she was driving the next day and soon got a new blue Mustang. She loved her personalized license plate: LV2STUN.

Natalie had a stem cell transplant at the City of Hope and the family was truly hopeful. Although Natalie had periods of remission, there were always challenges with her illness. It was frustrating to her, but she rose above it to pursue her dreams. Her dreams transformed as she wanted to open her own recording studio. She tried to attend Pasadena City College, but her health issues were too much. She was still interested in music and even took belly dancing classes.

Over the years, she collected 3,000 songs on her iPod and decided she wanted to mix and produce music. After a little research, she found the Audio Research Engineering Institute in Manhattan, New York. Natalie wanted to live her life and pursue her dreams. So, she decided she would attend the Institute and make it happen. That was a huge step for Natalie and although Amy and Jerry were hesitant, they supported her dreams and allowed her to experience the world. Amy and Jerry flew to New York to make sure everything was safe. Jerry took her to an ASPCA shelter and Natalie fell in love with a little black and white Lhasa Apso. The little dog loved her, too, and it was fate that Sebastian would keep her company in New York. She treated Sebastian like her baby. Natalie lived in New York from 2005 to 2007 and truly it was the best thing she did for herself. She lived in Queens and took the subway into Manhattan every day. She graduated from the Institute and earned her certificate. She had two internships in the field. She interned at a management company to famous bands, such as Duran Duran. and she also interned at Universal Music. She loved it, as she delivered tapes of up and coming singers. She grew up a lot in New York and was very responsible during that time. In many ways, she had the emotional age of a teenager of 14 and the psychological age of an older woman of 47 living inside of her. She had so many experiences and yet was still so young. But, from her spirit, people learned things about appreciating life and making the most of every moment.

Natalie's favorite TV show was Sponge Bob. She liked funny movies and loved to watch sitcoms such as Will & Grace, Golden Girls, I Love Lucy, Prince of Bel Air and Saved by the Bell. They made her laugh. She also liked the recent films The Blind Side and The Proposal. She enjoyed playing video games on her phone and listening to her songs. She read a lot of motivational books and she also did research on the Internet. Her favorite foods were spaghetti, pizza, and cereal with strawberries. She liked to cook macaroni and cheese and plain white rice. When she was in New York, she loved to make turkey pastrami sandwiches or ordering Indian and artificial Mexican foods, especially if Amy was visiting her. And, Natalie's favorite drink was always Gingerale.

Through the years, the family celebrated her birthdays and Natalie participated in Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations at home. She was planning to go back to school to get a Psychology degree with a plan to do music therapy with children. Artin's life was changed dramatically because of his sister. Natalie handwrote a beautiful letter to Artin a few years ago and her words are treasured. Artin says his parents may have given birth to him, but Natalie gave him life and made him realize what was possible. A thoughtful daughter, Natalie wrote special Mother's Day cards and letters to her mother. One of those notes is so touching:

Sending you a little hug with lots of love from me.

HI MOM! SINCE I DIDN'T GIVE YOU A HUG LAST NIGHT I'M GIVING YOU ONE RIGHT NOW!!! ONE OF THESE DAYS MOM, YOU AND ME WILL BE SITTING ON TOP OF THE WORLD!!!

REGARDLESS OF ANYTHING REMEMBER, I AM ALWAYS HERE FOR YOU ALONG SIDE WITH GOD AND HIS PRECIOUS SON JESUS!!!

I LOVE YOU ALWAYS, NATALIE : )

She always signed her letters and cards, "Love you always, Natalie." Through it all, her mother never left her side. She told Natalie, "Be brave, let's fight." She encouraged her and Natalie loved her for it, because she believed that she would be cured. She never lost that hope. Natalie loved her psychologist, Dr. Janet Kelley. Since 2002, she'd see Dr. Kelley in person or she'd call her by phone from New York for her sessions. Dr. Kelley was instrumental in her life as she listened to her and encouraged her to pursue her dreams. Only recently, Natalie showed her family some of her incredible artwork. She was truly a talented artist who created detailed drawings in her alone time. Jerry bought her a computerized drawing program so she could expand her portfolio. She had a lot of goals and aspirations set for herself. She was planning to create a comic book for kids with cancer. She had so much to give and was still planning for her future. Because of the treatment she endured, she couldn't have kids biologically, but she wanted to adopt kids one day.

In December, she was told she needed a lung transplant because the treatments for the Hodgkin's Lymphoma had permanently damaged and scarred her lungs resulting in pulmonary fibrosis. She spent time at the City of Hope and UCLA Hospital. Natalie liked to be home to be in her own bed and have Sebastian at her side. But, she also felt so safe to be at the hospital. In her final months, she was always hugging her mom and telling her, "I love you, mom. I appreciate all you do." Natalie felt that her mom was the best mom in the world. She told Jerry that she should be nominated for mom of the year, because she never left her side and slept in hospital chairs to be with her daughter. Natalie was grateful for her mother. She was also grateful for Jerry's patience throughout her many trials and tribulations. The day before she passed, she woke up on Tuesday morning and looked her mom and said, "Mom, I love you." The next day on Wednesday afternoon, her family was at the hospital, by her bedside, as she passed away peacefully. They were hugging her, kissing her, holding her hands, and loving her until the end. The next day, it was a windy day and the family hoped that her energy was in the wind trying to send them a message of hope, peace and comfort.

Looking back, Natalie's whole world changed at 14. She couldn't go to school like other kids. Instead, she went to Loma Linda Hospital for radiation treatments. Her life was forever changed and yet she wanted people to understand who she was. She was grateful that her immediate family understood her. She was unique and gave the best advice. The best thing that ever happened to her was going to New York and trying to gain her independence. Natalie was a gift in so many ways and her family was always her priority. She will be remembered as courageous, beautiful, opinionated, strong, independent, fearless, smart and funny. Her life has been documented in hundreds of photos and in every photo Natalie is smiling, because she was always hopeful a miracle would happen.

Natalie's advice to everyone would be to appreciate life, appreciate your health, don't give up hope and don't take anything for granted. When she was recently watching the TV show iCarly she said, "Those kids don't know how lucky they are they're not sick." For more than ten years, she had been through so much physically and she had a great appreciation for feeling healthy. One of her favorite songs was "Try Again" by Aaliyah. The song is about persevering and Natalie was always trying again to be healthy. Her family will miss her presence because she was felt everywhere. They'll miss her beautiful long hair, her smile, and her spirit.

While Natalie was spiritual, she also believed in fate and destiny. The family hopes they will be reunited with her again one day. While her favorite color was blue, Natalie will laid to rest in a pure white dress in a white casket covered in white flowers. She lived a very pure life. Her Sponge Bob blanket, Audrey Hepburn sunglasses, Jesus Loves Me stuffed animal, and pictures and letters from her family will also be by her side. Twenty-five doves will be released at graveside in her memory, as there will be one dove for each year of her life. Natalie is at peace and free of all the suffering.

Memorial donations are welcome in Natalie's name to the Humane Society of America in Glendale www.glendalehumane.org, because she would have loved to know that she was helping animals.