Updates on David and Adessa after Funeral
Kirsten, beautiful mother & wife passed Dec. 19, 2024
NOTE: Kirsten's journey with ALS and the movement towards her cause is documented in her online jounal here
October 13, 2025
Adessa types her own update
Hello, everyone.
This summer I attended 5 Christian Camps and two horse camps. It was really fun but at one Camp a girl pulled me down a bouncy castle slide and injured the LCL and hamstring in my knee.
Last week I had another scary accident where I was reading a book while sitting on the floor in front of our Murphy bed downstairs and it suddenly opened. It creaked and I looked back to see it falling on me. I tucked my head and this 80 pound frame and mattress fell flat on my back. It hurt so bad and I cried.
We went to the emergency room and nothing was broken but I was really shaken up. I've been very clingy and uncertain since then and I've had a couple of nightmares but Dad says that's understandable. Overall, I'm okay. It was really weird that it had never fallen down by itself before in 10 years and it fell down in the 10 minutes I was down there.
I'm doing very well in homeschool and I got an A+ on a multiple-subject Grade 4 test last week even though I'm just beginning Grade 4. And I guess I'll keep Dad on his toes. During the science part of the test one of the questions was "Name one of the organs in the digestive system of the human body" and I put down intestines but Dad didn't think it was an organ. When we looked at the answer key together I was right! 🙃🙃🙃I also wrote my first diagram of the water cycle on the same day!
I love typing and I'm typing this right now. The highest mark I've gotten on my typing tests so far is 48 words per minute. I'm also writing my own stories and typing out novels such as Anne of Green Gables and Little Women.
A couple weeks ago a deer walked up to Dad while he was in the garden. Dad called me and the deer just stood there. She ate a carrot right out of my hand and then went away. I thought it was a really cool experience that doesn't usually happen around here. I love country living.
Two weeks ago my best friend Laura was over with her brother James. Me and Laura went outside to jump on the trampoline. We started to go back inside and we found an injured butterfly struggling in a bunch of rocks. We named it Buttercup. I had her for 2 weeks but a few days ago she went to see Mom in heaven. I’m sad but dad says she was a little gift from God to tell me he cares. You can see her in the music video below.
Sincerely, Adessa.
David continues
Thank you Jesus for protecting my daughter. That Murphy bed is now in the down position permanently.
We had a good physiotherapist and Adessa has had a full recovery for her back. Her knee is nearly 100%. However, she's had some nightmares, which we combatted with by me praying the Rosary while she's falling asleep. We've been clear for a couple of weeks.
Kirsten had a dream that the evil one would try to hurt Adessa. Kirsten cried at the thought of leaving Adessa motherless. It was her heaviest burden with ALS.
The silver lining to all of this is that I'm seeing Adessa beginning to lean heavily on Jesus and it makes me think of the young Therese de Lisieux who lost her mom.
We talk about mommy frequently and sometimes we have sad moments together. She seems to be moving through this time in a healthy way. We watched "Inside Out" together and discussed emotions. Our future is in the hands of Jesus.
Adessa will turn 10 on February 23, 2026. They grow up so fast.
Homeschool
I'm trying to fill Kirsten's shoes as Adessa’s homeschool teacher and it's going well, (even though I didn't think that intestines were an organ). Thankfully, I graduated my BCom with a Magna Cum Laude at U of O and can handle teaching homeschooling (except intestines).
Adessa has three very close Catholic and Evangelical friends and a lot of other friends in and out of Church.
Music
After 15 years of not playing flute, I'm playing with our choir for Mass. Adessa and I practice piano and flute together.
Her music is progressing and she is making a bit of a name for herself in this region. She's taking piano and voice lessons and has 4 different dance classes a week. She's started writing songs and she's really good! (proud dad)
My songwriting slowed down after I got married. I only wrote 3 songs in 15 years while providing for my family. I recently wrote a new song, Only a Heartbeat about repentance and redemption, sung by Adessa. It's a minor miracle that during filming of the video Adessa found a wounded butterfly that managed to fly just enough for the redemption scene. We've also uploaded several of Adessa's performances up to YouTube and created a playlist.
Update on David
My sleep is starting to return to normal after years of night shifts caring for Kirsten. I exercise every day and I’m stronger and healthier than in recent years.
Work
I did a consulting job for Air Canada's website this summer and have been accepting jobs as they are offered to me. It is good to return to work after several years off to care for Kirsten, although I limit it to 15 hrs/wk as I homeschool Adessa.
Recreation
I'm learning how to be a country boy, fixing things around my house and 2 acres of property.
I joined the board of VIctory Valley, a Chrisitian charity, which gives kids a chance to be around horses. It's nice to give back after they were so good to Adessa during Kirsten's illness.
We went to the Huntsville fair last week, complete with demolition derby, country music and cowboy hats. I teared up as I realized these are my people. I never thought I'd say I love living in a small town. Kirsten was a small town girl from Alberta, not me. She must be praying for me.
Spiritual life
Adessa and I try to do daily Mass and Rosary. I’ve been reading the Spiritual Classics of the middle ages and beyond and it is deepening my prayer life.
I've been a member of an international Catholic men's group for 25 years and I enjoy our Monday night phone meetings with other Catholic men around the world. We support, challenge and hold each other accountable as we live the teachings of the Church.
I’m trying to focus on the interior war for holiness within me, rather than the wars between (and within) countries in our fallen apocalyptic world.
Some of our parishioners meet at my home on Thursday nights where we pray and sing and I get to play a bit of guitar, which I love. Our Church is growing and we've hired another priest.
I continue to work on CatholicBridge.com which receives about 325,000 visits a year. The devil is trying to create division. I'm trying to foster unity around Jesus and explain the magisterial teachings of the Catholic Church in simple terms.
Conclusion
The big take away for me about this whole journey is that life can throw us incredible tests and hardships but the devil is limited in what he can do against us. This life is built so that we can become saints. This is my prayer for you. Let's all become saints together. Kirsten is cheering us on and praying for us. Let us regard her life as a tremendous witness that we may follow.
April 4, 2025
Adessa's 9th Birthday
We celebrated Adessa's 9th birthday at Kirsten's mom's place in Alberta, with Kirsten's 3 sisters and their families. During 20 days we stayed at each of their homes, around Edmonton and Calgary. We swam in West Edmonton Mall wave pool, ice fished on Gull Lake, skated on Lake Louise, toured Banff and the Calgary Zoo and Adessa rode horseback at Mark Mallett's homestead.
Adessa gets high marks at music festival
We returned home to the Huntsville Festival of Music. Adessa auditioned with a 16th century ballad and "My Favourite Things" from The Sound of Music. I accompanied her on the guitar and it was a really great experience doing the daddy/daughter music thing. She was the youngest performer in the festival and she got 98% from the judge. She was chosen for the "Concert of the Stars" at the Algonquin theatre, April 16th. I know Kirsten is looking down super proud.
Kirsten's Interment Ceremony, May 13, 11a.m. in Huntsville
In Canada, those who die in the winter are stored and buried in the spring.
- Where: Hutcheson Memorial Cemetery, Huntsville ON
- When: May 13, 2025, 11 a.m. (which would be Kirsten's birthday).
We would love to see all of you there. It's a long way for for some of you for this short graveside service and we don't have any expectations. We are opening it up to the wider Christian community because Kirsten was so special. We'll arrange a casual "get together" afterwards at the Church or my place.
Many of you have asked how Adessa and I are doing?
Generally I am ok, apart from a occasional moments of deep sadness. I think it's because Kirsten is a powerful intercessor. There is nothing more important than dying in friendship with God, and Kirsten is experiencing the joy, wonder and love of God, towards which we've always striven. I can almost hear her saying:
Do not be sad for me. Trust Jesus, strive for holiness and join me with the saints and angels when your time on earth is done. He has such great plans for all of us!
Adessa seems to be fine also. We can talk freely about mommy. I think a mother's Holy death does not cause the kind of conflict in a child that, say, divorce does. I can now imagine how St. Therese must have felt to have a saint for a mother. Adessa has a saint and intercessor for a mother and it doesn't get any better than that!
Adessa continues to be busy with singing recitals, piano and voice lessons, 4 sets of dance lessons weekly, gymnastics, skiing, homeschooling, and will start up horseback riding again soon and several Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) this summer. She has many friends and play dates.
What's next for Adessa and I?
After the interment in May, we will see what God has planned for Adessa and I. I have some ideas, but ultimately its a one day at a time walk of faith. We trust him completely. Jesus has been so good to us.
We want to spend the rest of our days in His will.
Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
One thing is for sure, it's a real adventure.
Adessa's Note... (Typed By Adessa)
It was really fun out west! It was my first memory of an airplane! Going to West Edmonton Mall was the highlight of my trip. As much as I like Alberta, it's nice to be home. I have a singing competition on March 23, and I'm really exited for that. I've missed my dance classes a lot, and I'm glad they're starting up again. Here comes spring! I enjoy winter, but, personally, I'm glad the snow's almost gone. Thank you all so much for your support!
- Adessa
Jan 25, 2025: David & Adessa after Kirsten's death
Funeral Mass Video
Here is the Funeral Mass. The homily at 16:50 is a gem. Fr. Dominik is a canon lawyer and suggested the special privilege of Kirsten's visitation at the Church (instead of the funeral home) and kept Kirsten's casket in the sanctuary overnight in front of the tabernacle, for the Mass the next day. In his homily, he presents Kirsten as a rare jewel:
"To David and Adessa, be assured that you have had God's very visitation ... of Christ's transformation and saving presence in the person of Kirsten. Rarely, has such a presentation been so close, so clear and so palpable"
Kirsten's Spirituality
I’m not being rhetorical when I say that I might have married a saint. In my 35 years of travelling in Catholic and Evangelical circles, I’ve never met anyone with Kirsten's particular spirituality. It was vibrant, charismatic, Eucharistic, Marian, Magisterial, principled, unyielding, unwavering, apocalyptic, and unapologetic. Her prayer was sometimes quiet, deep and reflective, and at times very loud and assertive. She loved Jesus and would follow him anywhere.
Kirsten conceived Adessa when she was 48 years old after an experience with Mary on a pilgrimage to Częstochowa. She had cancer at the time and refused chemo to protect her baby. She was an heroic witness against euthanasia in her final stages of ALS.
I feel an obligation to preserve her journals and writings in case there is ecclesiastical interest.
Kirsten's body and suffering as a sacrifice
At John Paul II's funeral, Cardinal Ratzinger reflected on JPII's suffering, which also applies to Kirsten's ALS:
"In sacrificing himself for us all, Christ gave a new meaning to suffering, opening up a new dimension, a new order: the order of love ... It is this suffering which burns and consumes evil with the flame of love and draws forth even from sin a great flowering of good" (Memory and Identity, John Paul II pp. 189-190)
For details on Kirsten's suffering, follow her journal below.
Some of you have asked how Adessa and I are doing
I'm not seeing any significant change in Adessa. We talk openly about mom. She likes St. Terese de Lisieux, who understands what it is like to lose her mom at a young age. At 8 years old, she read "Story of a Soul" in its original French. I'm homeschooling Adessa and its going well. I get a sense that a child's separation from her mother because of a Holy death does not breed the type of confusion and conflict in the mind and soul of a child that, say, divorce does.
Last Friday, Adessa did her testimony in front of about 80 people and shared about mom and sang. It was a fundraiser for her Christian horse riding camp. There were many tears in the audience. She wrote it herself and memorized it. I wonder what the Lord has in mind for her.
This week Adessa and I went on a two day trip to Toronto to drop off Kirsten's specialized eyeGaze computer system. We visited the Royal Ontario Museum, the CN Tower, Ripley's Sea Aquarium, her cousins and St. Michael's Basilica.
She started skiing and is doing really well.
We'll also visit Kirsten's family out west.
I have occasional emotional surprises when various memories are triggered, especially when I edited the Mass and Vigil videos (above). However, I did most of my mourning for Kirsten early in the diagnosis because my work career involves assistive technology for people with disabilities and I knew where ALS was going. It's been a physical and emotional roller coaster but we made it.
We believe Kirsten is safe in Heaven (or on her way), and we were able to keep her at home for the entire ALS journey of nearly 4 years. She did it drug free, beginning to end, au natural.
My priest, and my spiritual mentor, have both suggested I take the winter off, without any major decisions or changes. I'll focus on Adessa and go deeper with Our Lord so that I may discern His will going forward. Fr. Bob Bedard used to say "The Lord's will is the only thing worth doing, its where the blessings are".
Conclusion
I want to personally thank everyone for the prayers, support, and encouragement. It has sustained our family. We believe God has a plan, and we are all part of it. So never lose hope.
Blessings
David and Adessa MacDonald
Here's the renewal of our marriage vows July 27th with a 9 minute video of it here. It was a beautiful day. I loved Kirsten so much and would do it again in a heartbeat. [moved to top of page]
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