The Journal News • November 8, 2008
PUTNAM VALLEY - The Tigers' season began with grief.
Then came the butterflies.
Members of the Putnam Valley High School girls field hockey team couldn't believe it when they began to notice butterflies everywhere following the sudden death of teammate and close friend Kelly Cortesi.
Cortesi, 16, fell nearly 30 feet from a dangerous cliff at Bear Mountain State Park during a summer outing with a friend and her mother, and died after being flown to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.
"People were looking for a way to hold onto Kelly's spirit. And then everyone started seeing the butterflies," said Mary Jo Daley, a family friend whose daughter plays on the team and will compete in Kelly's honor today.
Kelly loved bright colors and the beautiful insect with a short life is also the symbol of organ donations. Her family donated Kelly's vital organs - her heart, liver and kidneys - to save others.
"They really do make us feel she is here with us," said teammate Tianna Daley, 16, who knew Kelly since they were fourth-graders and played on junior varsity with her as a sophomore. She would have moved to varsity this year with Daley, a goalie. The girls also participated in Irish step dancing programs together.
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Tianna Daley, center, and members of the Putnam Valley High School varsity field hockey team yesterday hold armbands and sticks adorned with butterflies to honor deceased teammate Kelly Cortesi. (Joe Larese/The Journal News) |
Kelly's mother, Mary Cortesi, said she, too, began seeing butterflies. Then she received small gold butterfly pins from the organ donor network and it all clicked.
"This has become a way for them to focus so positively and devote their energies," Mary Cortesi said.
The butterfly is considered a symbol of renewal and rebirth and used often with organ donation and transplantation programs.
The teammates have put butterfly emblems on their hockey sticks and had black wrist bands made with butterflies embroidered in orange, her favorite color, that they have worn for every game this season.
And the girls say they have seen lots of real butterflies all season, which reminds them that Kelly is nearby.
One day, though, before a game no one had seen a real butterfly and the team got a bit spooked. Then a jogger ran across the track wearing a T-shirt imprinted with lots of butterflies and they felt better.
Now with the help of stickers, bands and imprints, they always have these colorful flying insects in sight.
The team is set to play against Garden City, Long Island, at 4 p.m. today in a Class B regional championship game at Lakeland High School field. They hope to move onto state semifinals next week - and their butterflies with them.
"It was really shocking, the way she died. People don't deserve that, no matter what, but certainly not Kelly, who was such a good person, so kind and happy," said Tianna Daley. "(Her passing) really brought us together."
Mary Cortesi is creating a foundation in her daughter's memory that will award scholarships to a graduating Putnam Valley student and an Irish dance student and make an annual contribution to an organization that helps children.
"This is my giveback, being with the kids is my healing," she said. "It is a healing time for everyone."
And butterflies miraculously and beautifully appear for a short season every year.
Reach Barbara Livingston Nackman at bnackman@LoHud.com or 845-228-2272.
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