NEW ALBANY, In. (WDRB) -- A little girl in southern Indiana who battled a rare brain cancer captured the hearts of so many this summer.
Unfortunately, Calla Woods lost her eight-week battle with the disease. But now her legacy is living on through what she loved most: slime and giving back.
It's not hard for her parents, Ben and Crystal Woods, to brag on their middle child, Calla.
"Calla's just fun. Like she's the kind of kid you just want to be around," said Crystal.
"I know I'm biased. I'm just a proud daddy, but she's the kind of kid you just want to be around and I believe that's a God-given gift that will be used to shape other lives," said Ben.
It's that radiance that captured the hearts of so many in southern Indiana this summer, as Calla courageously battled brain cancer.
"We want people who have encountered her story, our story, to see the good in the midst of the pain," said Ben.
While her dad was away on a mission trip, Calla started having headaches. Her mom took Calla to the ER thinking it was the flu. "They did the CT scan and found multiple tumors. And I don't know at any point I completely understood the severity of what we were dealing with, what she was dealing with," said Crystal.
The little girl started aggressive treatment immediately, fighting hard with radiation and surgery. But in a matter of just weeks, Calla was gone.
"Everything went really fast," said Ben.
Her family was left to grieve the little girl who captured so many hearts.
"Our prayer through this whole journey has been acknowledging that our hearts are broken, but our hands are open," said Ben.
Open to continuing Calla's legacy by helping others in a way only a child can: through her love of slime. "She was like 'I'm going to start a slime company just like these ones I order on Etsy and I'm going to save all this money and we're going to go to Romania'," said Crystal.
Romania held a special place in Calla's heart. It's where her dad has served on mission trips for years through Forget Me Not Ministries. It was Calla's dream to go and serve.
"For her, the bigger picture was I want to go to Romania, and I want to love on the kiddos. And for her, slime seemed to be the way to do that," said Ben.
Before her death, Calla raised $1,600 through her Calla Lily Slime Shop. On Oct. 1, Calla would have turned 10 years old. But instead of spending the day grieving, more than 50 volunteers gathered at the Elderberry Co. in downtown New Albany to honor the little girl.
"Calla would be jumping up and down seeing all this slime that people will be purchasing," said Elderberry Co. owner Jenny Watson, who knew Calla through church. The two had talked about selling together at the annual Harvest Homecoming.
"It's one of those things where I wish we would have done it last year. We had talked about it, we almost had those booths together and it didn't happen," said Watson, who is now going on without Calla, while honoring the little girl's ambition and desire to give back.
"There are so many people here today who are still grieving over not having Calla here with us. But we can still join Calla in that movement of showing what love looks like and extending that love and kindness to other people. Slime is a silly way to do it, but it's what Calla loved," said Watson.
Doing what Calla loved, how Calla loved.
"These are sacred moments I think where people can be a part of something bigger than themselves and it can be as simple as slime," said Calla's dad.
The Calla Lily Slime Shop pop-up will be at the Elderberry Company during Harvest Homecoming. The store is located on Pearl Street in downtown New Albany. Donations can also be made directly to Forget Me Not Ministries.
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