Obituary for Ciala Atwood
Ciala Atwood
August 3, 1986 - January 4, 2021
"GOD has gained an Amazing Angel"
It is with the utmost heartache we announce the passing of Ciala.
Ciala is survived by her mother, Shannon; father, John (Leah); Grandma Betty and Yaya (Grandma Dimitra), aunts and uncles – Dora, Miles (Pat), Chris, Warren (Susan), Shelley (Darryl), Bryan (Chantal) and Sam as well as numerous cousins, great aunts and uncles.
Anyone who knew Ciala would know that she was a very kind, caring and giving person. There was a time that she even gave the shoes off her feet to someone that had none. One day she also had borrowed all the money I had in my wallet only to find out later she had given it away to someone else that needed it. I never did make her pay it back.
I can say without a doubt that Ciala was the most fun loving, non-judgmental, empathetic and compassionate person that one could only be so lucky to have known. Ciala was also known for her unselfishness, had a heart of gold and she always believed in the goodness of others. She was never one to gossip, if she had something to say she would say it to you. One of the things she would say was “who am I to judge” and she judged no one. She would only look for and see the best in everyone.
Ciala was very passionate when it came to children, animals, singing, poetry and especially makeup. She loved volunteering at the Calgary Humane Society and grew up with many pets and at times would even bring home strays. One of the things she cherished most of all was spending time with her cousins and friends’ children. On many occasions she would go to her cousin Trevor’s just to bath and read bedtime stories to his sons. She also loved making Tamara’s little girls feel like princesses by doing their hair, makeup and nails. She would do these things with her friends’ children as well. She loved and looked forward to doing it every time. It was one of the things that made her feel so warm and good inside. Above all, family mattered the most to Ciala!
She also had a great sense of humour and was very creative. For instance, her father shares these memories: Although there are so many. Every time we were together, one memory was better than the next. Especially fishing trips. Twice she got two fish on one line with two hooks and we thought it was a snag and to our surprise it was two fish. The next one is when she wanted to go shopping and I told her I had no money… and she came out with this brilliant idea to use my Bay Card to buy a $100 gift certificate from the Bay and then buy a pair of socks and get the change so we would have about $90 to go shopping elsewhere and a year later my credit card bill was about $7000 – well that was brilliant on her part and I laughed every time I had to make a payment. (GOOD TIMES!!) Ciala was an amazing makeup artist and could spend hours doing and redoing hers and others makeup to perfection. Hence the $7000 Bay Bill (MAC Cosmetics is very expensive! Who Knew?!)
Her creative side really came out in her cooking and poetry. One day she had invited her Dad and I over to see her new place all set up and have an authentic meal of Butter Chicken made from scratch. She was so excited for us to taste this wonderful meal she had spent all day preparing when the unheard of happened. She had everything prepared for the plates, took the casserole dish out of the oven, set it on top of the stove, walked out of the kitchen to see if we wanted anything to drink and then we all heard this explosion coming from the kitchen and discovered the casserole dish had literally blown apart. It sure looked good and smelled great but needless to say we made do with the rice and nan bread and still had a wonderful time.
When Ciala was a little girl there was a song that came out at Christmas time (Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer)…on her way home from shopping with her dad the song was playing on the radio. She came bursting in the front door with the widest eyes, huffing and puffing, trying to tell me that someone’s grandma got run over by a reindeer. She struggled to get her coat and boots off as I struggled to hold back my outburst of laughter as I realized her father had told her to run and tell mom the news. It took some time to convince her otherwise but still hilarious every time I hear the song.
Ciala had such an infectious laugh and beautiful smile that could light up any room and did. She also had an amazing voice and loved to sing. One of her favourite things to do was to go with friends and family to Karaoke clubs. She did an amazing duet of the song "Picture" with her Uncle Miles on several occasions. She loved to sing "Strawberry Wine" and "Coal Miner’s Daughter" just to name a few.
Finally, I cannot thank the following people enough. We would like to extend our gratitude to: the unknown person who called 911, to the team who unselfishly came to our daughter’s aid in her time of need; the first responders who tried everything in their power, but to no avail and a heartful thanks to Dr. Ann Stuhec for all the utmost respectful, dignified and compassionate care that Ciala received. We would like to add a special thank-you to the staff at Choice Memorial for supporting us during this difficult journey, especially Cheryl and Lisa.
If you feel compelled to make a donation in Ciala’s memory, it would be gratefully accepted by the St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church & Calgary Hellenic Community.
We ask that you please honour Ciala’s memory by doing what Ciala would want you to do:
• Pay it forward
• Be kind and love everyone
• Be less selfish
• Pass no judgement
• Have empathy
• Show more compassion to others
• Take the time to be that light in someone’s darkness.
My last memory of my little girl ....
“I said I love you,
watched you walk away,
never to have another day!...
Love you, miss you more than words can say”
Mommy
Until we meet again ...
To view and share photos, condolences and stories of Ciala please visit www.choicememorial.com. Arrangements entrusted to the care of Choice Memorial Cremation & Funeral Services (403) 277-7343.
August 3, 1986 - January 4, 2021
"GOD has gained an Amazing Angel"
It is with the utmost heartache we announce the passing of Ciala.
Ciala is survived by her mother, Shannon; father, John (Leah); Grandma Betty and Yaya (Grandma Dimitra), aunts and uncles – Dora, Miles (Pat), Chris, Warren (Susan), Shelley (Darryl), Bryan (Chantal) and Sam as well as numerous cousins, great aunts and uncles.
Anyone who knew Ciala would know that she was a very kind, caring and giving person. There was a time that she even gave the shoes off her feet to someone that had none. One day she also had borrowed all the money I had in my wallet only to find out later she had given it away to someone else that needed it. I never did make her pay it back.
I can say without a doubt that Ciala was the most fun loving, non-judgmental, empathetic and compassionate person that one could only be so lucky to have known. Ciala was also known for her unselfishness, had a heart of gold and she always believed in the goodness of others. She was never one to gossip, if she had something to say she would say it to you. One of the things she would say was “who am I to judge” and she judged no one. She would only look for and see the best in everyone.
Ciala was very passionate when it came to children, animals, singing, poetry and especially makeup. She loved volunteering at the Calgary Humane Society and grew up with many pets and at times would even bring home strays. One of the things she cherished most of all was spending time with her cousins and friends’ children. On many occasions she would go to her cousin Trevor’s just to bath and read bedtime stories to his sons. She also loved making Tamara’s little girls feel like princesses by doing their hair, makeup and nails. She would do these things with her friends’ children as well. She loved and looked forward to doing it every time. It was one of the things that made her feel so warm and good inside. Above all, family mattered the most to Ciala!
She also had a great sense of humour and was very creative. For instance, her father shares these memories: Although there are so many. Every time we were together, one memory was better than the next. Especially fishing trips. Twice she got two fish on one line with two hooks and we thought it was a snag and to our surprise it was two fish. The next one is when she wanted to go shopping and I told her I had no money… and she came out with this brilliant idea to use my Bay Card to buy a $100 gift certificate from the Bay and then buy a pair of socks and get the change so we would have about $90 to go shopping elsewhere and a year later my credit card bill was about $7000 – well that was brilliant on her part and I laughed every time I had to make a payment. (GOOD TIMES!!) Ciala was an amazing makeup artist and could spend hours doing and redoing hers and others makeup to perfection. Hence the $7000 Bay Bill (MAC Cosmetics is very expensive! Who Knew?!)
Her creative side really came out in her cooking and poetry. One day she had invited her Dad and I over to see her new place all set up and have an authentic meal of Butter Chicken made from scratch. She was so excited for us to taste this wonderful meal she had spent all day preparing when the unheard of happened. She had everything prepared for the plates, took the casserole dish out of the oven, set it on top of the stove, walked out of the kitchen to see if we wanted anything to drink and then we all heard this explosion coming from the kitchen and discovered the casserole dish had literally blown apart. It sure looked good and smelled great but needless to say we made do with the rice and nan bread and still had a wonderful time.
When Ciala was a little girl there was a song that came out at Christmas time (Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer)…on her way home from shopping with her dad the song was playing on the radio. She came bursting in the front door with the widest eyes, huffing and puffing, trying to tell me that someone’s grandma got run over by a reindeer. She struggled to get her coat and boots off as I struggled to hold back my outburst of laughter as I realized her father had told her to run and tell mom the news. It took some time to convince her otherwise but still hilarious every time I hear the song.
Ciala had such an infectious laugh and beautiful smile that could light up any room and did. She also had an amazing voice and loved to sing. One of her favourite things to do was to go with friends and family to Karaoke clubs. She did an amazing duet of the song "Picture" with her Uncle Miles on several occasions. She loved to sing "Strawberry Wine" and "Coal Miner’s Daughter" just to name a few.
Finally, I cannot thank the following people enough. We would like to extend our gratitude to: the unknown person who called 911, to the team who unselfishly came to our daughter’s aid in her time of need; the first responders who tried everything in their power, but to no avail and a heartful thanks to Dr. Ann Stuhec for all the utmost respectful, dignified and compassionate care that Ciala received. We would like to add a special thank-you to the staff at Choice Memorial for supporting us during this difficult journey, especially Cheryl and Lisa.
If you feel compelled to make a donation in Ciala’s memory, it would be gratefully accepted by the St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church & Calgary Hellenic Community.
We ask that you please honour Ciala’s memory by doing what Ciala would want you to do:
• Pay it forward
• Be kind and love everyone
• Be less selfish
• Pass no judgement
• Have empathy
• Show more compassion to others
• Take the time to be that light in someone’s darkness.
My last memory of my little girl ....
“I said I love you,
watched you walk away,
never to have another day!...
Love you, miss you more than words can say”
Mommy
Until we meet again ...
To view and share photos, condolences and stories of Ciala please visit www.choicememorial.com. Arrangements entrusted to the care of Choice Memorial Cremation & Funeral Services (403) 277-7343.