Student's Writing to Be Published Posthumously To Fund Scholarships

This time of year is the hardest for Jeannie Rivera. She watches as her daughter's friends get ready for prom and plan graduation parties. She feels an emptiness. That's because her daughter Allie Rivera died in October. She was a senior at  and would be graduating this year.

"Last year when she went to prom, she and I went prom shopping and we just had a blast," Jeannie Rivera said. "She’s got great friends, great, great friends, I can’t say enough about them. It should be my girl doing all this stuff, the fun senior stuff and she’s not."

Allie died of an undiagnosed heart anomaly. Community members have come forward to help the family, including who designed and sold stickers in Allie's memory.

The family is taking that one step further. Jeannie Rivera and Allie's father, Joe Rivera, have decided to keep their daughter's voice alive.

"What we have found after Allie's passing is that she had several dozen journals," Joe Rivera said. "She was a very talented writer."

Allie's parents have decided to publish her work, sell the books and use the money to begin a scholarship fund for other students. The inspiration for this came from bittersweet news that Jeannie Rivera received after her daughter's passing.

Allie's first choice for college was University of Illinois, into which she was accepted. After her passing, Jeannie Rivera opened a letter from the school informing her that Allie had been awarded a $28,000 scholarship to be used over the four years she attended the school.

"It hurts, an indescribable hurt," Jeannie Rivera said. "I opened the letter and I cried."

For Jeannie Rivera, there are lots of tears. She cries when she reads Allie's words, but she wants her daughter's voice to live on.

"I read her passages and her writings—it makes me miss her more," she said. "I ache for her."

Even though the family has not yet published Allie's works, they have decided to use some of the money that was donated by family and friends to award two scholarships at the Senior Honors Night at Minooka Community High School April 30. The family will award two scholarships—one to someone wanting to study journalism or creative writing, and one to someone wanting to study biology.

Allie wanted to be a veterinarian.

"Basically, Allie's writing will help keep her voice alive and help other students," Joe Rivera said.

The family is taking pre-orders for 200 books. They are expected to cost $15 each. To pre-order a book, email Joe Rivera at jolietjoe@comcast.net.