Gina Giallombardo, 22

Gina Giallombardo, a 2006 graduate of South Side High School, lost a long and valiant battle with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft-tissue pediatric cancer, succumbing to the disease on May 12. She was diagnosed with it in November 2009, and from that time until her death, she underwent continuous chemotherapy and several rounds of radiation.

Giallombardo was starting her junior year at Manhattan College, studying psychology, when the disease struck.

A close family friend spoke about Giallombardo. She loved shopping and going to the beach with her friends. She also adored ladybugs and puppies, and had just gotten her wish, a Golden retriever puppy named Enzo. His name was taken from the book, “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” by Garth Stein, about a dog who has lived a full life and knows that he is going to return some day as a human. The book was said to have given her hope.

Her fiancé, Andrew Calvo, who was by her side continuously, her family and her friends meant everything to Giallombardo. Never without a smile, and never complaining, her family said she taught them how to live.

Last fall and winter she worked at Godiva Chocolatier in Roosevelt Field Mall and babysat, as well. She took the retail job because she loved chocolate-covered strawberries. She also wanted to be normal and treated like everyone else. She never had a bad word to say about anybody, including stressed-out customers shopping in a crowded mall at Christmas time.

Despite the loss of hair from chemotherapy, Giallombardo never wore a wig, except to go to a wedding in May 2010. At that party, she couldn’t wait to take it off, and finally did, holding it in her hand and spinning it over her head. The reaction was laughter and applause.

Last fall, she received a camera from her parents that she put to good use. She documented everyone and everything that was going on in her life.

The week before she learned her cancer had metastasized, at the end of March, Giallombardo and Calvo attended a wedding in Washington, D.C.  They walked all day, touring a city she had never visited, took photos and danced up a storm at the wedding — enjoying life to the fullest.

Giallombardo was the beloved daughter of Marie and Sal and the loving sister of Jennifer and Janice (Eric). She was also the devoted aunt of Katlyn and Brandon, the cherished granddaughter of Frank. She was the adored friend of many and loved by all.

Her body lay in repose at Thomas A. Glynn & Son Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian Burial took place on May 16, with mourners filling every pew in St. Agnes Cathedral. A procession of 60 cars went to her interment at Pinelawn Memorial Park. A celebration of her life followed at the South Hempstead Fire Department later that day.

Giallombardo’s family requests that donations in her memory be made to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Pediatric Unit, 1275 York Ave., New York, NY 10065.