Annabelle Vassallo's friends and relatives are starting to believe she is not spending much time in the room in heaven she spoke so much about – the one she believed Jesus prepared for her during her battle with cancer.
The 39- year-old from Siġġiewi, who inspired the whole country with the way she fought her illness through her insatiable passion for life, passed away a year ago today but her positive energy lives on.
"Like St Therese, she believed that when you go to heaven you should not stay there but come back on earth to help people, and that's what she's doing," Carmen Mangion, one of her best friends, said.
Another friend, Micheline Sciberras, agreed: "She probably asked God to let her back down on earth... We miss her a lot but feel she didn't go very far."
Annabelle entered the nation's heart with her appearance on television and her autobiography Irrid Ngħix ( I want to live) that went on to sell thousands of copies in aid of Puttinu Cares, a foundation for children with cancer. Her friends are now translating the book into English.
In an epilogue she wrote in preparation for the English version, Annabelle spoke about how she wanted to help her loved ones overcome the grief of her loss. "Oh how I wish I could leave my spirit behind me. How I wish I could be all over the place, helping people carry their cross," the eternal optimist wrote. She won people's hearts with her strong message – that every drop of life is worth fighting for.
This will be immortalised in a meditation garden, close to the Providenza chapel in Siġġiewi, which will be named after her.
Although shattered by the loss, Annabelle's mother Mary wants to continue spreading her daughter's message. "Although we knew she was going to die, we held on to hope," she said.
On Boxing Day, 2006, Annabelle was diagnosed with a high-grade soft tissue sarcoma – one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. She underwent treatment in the UK but, in October 2009, she was told nothing more could be done. After undergoing further chemotherapy in Malta, Annabelle died on January 24, 2011, surrounded by loved ones.
"Whenever I go to the cemetery my heart breaks... Recently, I was there and told her: ' Annabelle, where are you?' Then I saw a bird, fly and chirp... I thought to myself: ' She heard me'... I speak to her a lot and feel her reply," her mother said.
Annabelle had an indestructible faith and a personal relationship with Jesus who she spoke to as though he was a friend. Her teenage diaries, now in possession of Ms Sciberras, prove this.
A Mass will be held today to mark the anniversary of Annabelle's death at the Siġġiewi parish church at 6.30 p. m.