“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.” ― Flavia Weedn.
When I was 8 years old, I went to summer camp and met a perfectly petite little girl with long blonde hair, a massive smile and an infectious laugh; her name was Daniella. She left small footprints on my heart that became bigger and bigger as we grew up together. But her footprints weren’t just left on my heart, they were imprinted on infinite ones.
Just a few months ago, twenty one year old Daniella Moffson, was on her way to the airport after selflessly spending her vacation providing medical care in Honduras for poor neighborhoods, when her bus veered off the dirt road. On what had originally seemed like an ordinary Wednesday, the world lost an endlessly passionate and caring soul, and I lost one of my best and oldest friends.
Ever since I can remember, Daniella was always giving. Sprinkling kindness around like it was colorful confetti, wherever she went. From volunteering at charitable programs focused on helping children with disabilities like The Friendship Circle, to taking care of young cancer patients at Camp Simcha (“happiness” in Hebrew), to spending a gap year with me in Israel accompanying troubled foster children at AMIT; she never stopped leaving those beautiful footprints of hers on others.
With that same vibrant smile painted perfectly across her porcelain skin, she was constantly doing, doing, doing. Time seemed to slow down for Daniella. I always believed that she had more hours in the day than the rest of us. The most inspiring part of her, was that she did it quietly. Goodness for the sake of simply doing good, that’s all.
After losing Daniella and enduring such unbearable heartache, I was welcomed back to EyeSwoon with the warmest of hugs from Athena and a simple question: “What can we do to remember her?”
We decided to bake Challah in her honor. A Jewish tradition, Daniella loved to do – she even had her own recipe with little notes! I once learned something truly inspiring about baking Challah bread, which I believe captures the essence of my dear friend in every way. The word “Challah” is actually rooted from the Hebrew word “Chol” which means ordinary. This is often how we see every day life, as ordinary. The secret is to take something that is ordinary and make it extraordinary. That’s the point of baking Challah. At the surface it is just ordinary bread, but then it is carefully kneaded, beautifully braided, and baked with a blessing.
That was Daniella, she made everyday meaningful and memorable. She touched infinite lives, taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary.
This beautiful and heartfelt story is shared by my incredible assistant Jordana…. xx /athena
