|
Quinceañera celebration a dream come true for Valley teen
By Joyce Coronel, news@catholicsun.org
January 1, 2009
Three times a week, 16-year-old Amada Mata, who suffers from end-stage renal failure, undergoes hours of painful kidney dialysis. On Dec. 13, all that was forgotten as she was granted her wish: a stunning quinceañera celebration.
“The children go through so much,” said Jennifer Gonzalez of the Make-A-Wish Foundation as she stood in the elaborately decorated social hall at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral. “This is a spark of joy and a spark of hope for them. It really draws the family together around a positive event.”
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a charitable organization that grants the wishes of children between the ages of 2 ½ and 18 who face life-threatening illnesses.
“We try to make anything they wish come true for one day,” said Kristin Keck, from the national office of the Phoenix-based organization. “We try to make as much magic happen as we can.”
With the help of numerous local businesses and 45 volunteers to help make Amada Mata’s dream come true, the day was one the Valley teenager will likely never forget.
A quinceañera is a traditional coming-of-age celebration for Latina girls. To those unfamiliar with the practice, it looks much like a wedding celebration, complete with a Mass, a long white gown, and attendants in formal attire as well as flowers and a reception.
Amada’s day began with a visit to the Phoenician Resort and Spa accompanied by her mother Olga and her two younger sisters, Bianca and Karen. Each received a complimentary manicure, pedicure, hairstyling and makeup.
After enjoying a luncheon, the four were taken by limousine to Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral, where Fr. Raul Lopez celebrated a Mass in Spanish for close family and friends.
Six young ladies dressed in silver, black and white gowns, accompanied by six young men in black tuxedos proceeded down the center aisle of the cathedral as the Mass began. Olga and Federico Mata, Amada’s parents, were also part of the opening procession.
“You have been given a beautiful name,” Fr. Lopez said of the teen’s name, “Amada,” which means beloved in Spanish.
“And I can see you are in fact beloved, you are surrounded by love,” the priest continued as he gestured to the congregation. “We celebrate the love of God in Amada in turning 15 years old, and we pray that you may always be beloved and that God will grant you a big heart for loving.”
Fr. Lopez noted that the celebration took place on the feast of St. Lucy as well as just one day after the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
“St. Lucy was a young girl like you who gave her life for Christ. May St. Lucy intercede for you that you always remain faithful to the love of God,” Fr. Lopez said.
At the conclusion of the Mass, Amada offered a bouquet of roses to the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe displayed at the front of the cathedral as the musician sang the “Ave Maria.”
Then it was off to a nearby park for a photo session to commemorate the day’s festivities. A reception in the cathedral’s social hall would get underway later in the afternoon with a dinner provided by P.F. Chang’s.
Volunteers had spent the morning festooning 200 chairs with large, blue satin ribbons and covering the table with silver tablecloths. At each place setting was a party favor consisting of a pearl necklace and Ghirardelli chocolate bar.
At the front of the hall stood a doll encased in plastic, meant to be part of the traditional muñeca ceremony. It is the last doll a Latina girl receives, symbolizing the end of her childhood and the beginning of her life as an adult.
Amada’s father would also perform the shoe ceremony that afternoon, in which the flats she wore to the Mass would be replaced with the high heels of an adult woman.
So what did this brave young lady think of all the attention paid to her on such a very important day?
“It was so much fun — it was awesome,” Amada said. “We danced at the party and my friends performed a surprise dance for me.”
|
