Twins Honor Daughter's Memory At Scarsdale 15K

Local residents and twins Jessica Anthony and Nikki Rosee competed with a group of their close friends in the 44th Annual Scarsdale 15K race on Sunday, April 7th. Although it's newsworthy that the sisters crossed the finish line holding hands with each other and teammate Julie Sayer and tied first place for women and also the first in their age bracket to cross the finish line, the story only begins there.

Jess and Nikki both grew up in Scarsdale and returned to 10583 to raise their families. After Jessica's daughter Kaitlyn, the oldest of five children, was granted a wish by Hudson Valley Make-A-Wish foundation at age 4 before she died in 2008, Jess and her sister Nikki were inspired to become active volunteers in the foundation. The sisters ran the 2013 Westchester Half Marathon along the Bronx River Parkway to raise money for Make-A-Wish foundation. And thanks to friend and Scarsdale resident Elizabeth DeRobertis, a team was organized for yesterday's Annual Scarsdale 15K race to raise enough funds to send a Wish Family to the annual Wish Ball hosted by the Hudson Valley chapter of Make-A-Wish foundation later this month. The team running in yesterday's local race wore shirts with Kaitlyn's name proudly displayed across their backs in bright purple and pink, Kaitlyn's favorite colors. It was a special way to commemorate Kaitlyn and support a very worthy cause. Winning the trophies was great recognition for the dedication of these sisters. Nikki summed the day up perfectly. "It was really inspirational to run for Kaitlyn."

Kaitlyn was born with Marfan Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects connective tissue. She was diagnosed at age 3 and spent too much of her time seeing doctors. She wore glasses for severe near-sightedness, a back brace, foot orthotics and had serious heart issues. No child should have to face multiple difficulties such as these. When Kaitlyn was granted her wish, she chose to meet the princesses in Disney. For one week of her short life, she was the happiest little girl. It was truly a dream come true. A few short months after her wish was granted, Kaitlyn passed away after complications from heart surgery.

Jess, who lives in Quaker Ridge, has 2 boys and 2 girls; Kaitlyn was her firstborn and would have been 9 this year. Nikki has 2 boys and 2 girls as well and lives in Greenacres.

In Jess's words: "There is not an hour that passes that we don't think of our little princess. We have been personally touched by the magic of a wish and know first hand what an amazing organization Make-A-Wish is. What better way to honor our princess's memory than give back and allow another family to have the same magical experience. Running with a team of friends who are willing to donate their time and energy to support such a wonderful cause makes me happy to have my daughter remembered this way. The sun was shining, there was a group of generous people wearing Kaitlyn's name and it was such a fantastic energy that three of us held hands and crossed the finish line to tie for first place. I know we made Kaitlyn proud and she was right there, shining down on us at that moment." 

If you would like to contribute to the efforts of Kaitlyn's Team, and support this special foundation, you can help make wishes come true by being part of Hudson Valley's Make-A-Wish foundation's largest  fundraising event of the year. Click here to purchase a sponsorship, tickets, Wish tickets and/or a journal ad.