File PhotoMadeline ‘Maddie’ Pitts bakes cupcakes at Smallcakes: A Cupcakery as part of a wish list she created. The 13-year-old died early Monday morning at her home. 

VALDOSTA — “Make today the best day of your life because you don’t know if it’s your last.”

That’s the legacy of 13-year-old Madeline “Maddie” Pitts, according to Benjamin Pitts, Maddie’s father.

Maddie passed away in her home Monday morning after battling leukemia and glioblastoma, or brain cancer. She was not being treated for leukemia at the time of her passing.

Leukemia and a brain tumor also claimed the life of Maddie’s older sister, Elizabeth, eight years ago this past July. Elizabeth was 10 years old.

“Elizabeth was much more quiet and demure and sensitive. … Madeline was the other end of the spectrum; she was much more vibrant and energetic and sassy and just daring and adventurous,” said Melanie Pitts, Maddie’s mother.

Maddie acquired a United States Parachuting Association membership and wanted to skydive Saturday, Aug. 18. She began training a month and a half ago.

“She was completely committed. She was ready to jump. She got to fly but just not the way she was supposed to,” Melanie said.

Maddie was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 11 right before she turned 12 years old. She was diagnosed with glioblastoma at age 12.

Benjamin recalled a time when Maddie told a doctor the following week was her birthday.

“He said, ‘I have to apologize because we didn’t think you were going to make it to your birthday,’” Benjamin said.

Maddie turned 13 years old Jan. 20, 2018, a milestone Benjamin said was “a big deal.”

“It was a big deal for her to just turn 13 and be officially a teenager because, by that point, we had been told to go home three times, she’s not going to make it,” he said.

Her parents said she was told multiple times to enjoy her last days. According to her parents, she did.

Before her passing, Maddie created a list of wishes she would like fulfilled, including baking a cake for her brother’s sixth birthday, carving her name and her sister’s name in a tree and holding a sloth — her favorite animal.

Some of these wishes were fulfilled during Maddie Day held Saturday, June 9, at a community-wide event. The day was declared Maddie Day by Valdosta City Councilwoman Sandra Tooley.

Maddie wanted to attend her prom and get a driver’s license, but her parents said the purpose was much deeper than the act.

“There were things that people wanted to make happen but didn’t get that deeper meaning, like she did get her driver’s license … the DMV really made that happen, but … she wanted to turn 16 and knew she never would.

“She wanted to be a kid who made it to the age of 16 because, in her world, not very many kids make it to 16,” Melanie said.

There was no question as to where Maddie was going in the afterlife, said Melanie, who hinted the teen’s faith was unshakable.

“She just stayed faithful through everything,” she said. “She wasn’t afraid of being sick, wasn’t afraid of dying, even to the last.”

Melanie compared Maddie’s faith to growing a garden. She said she and Benjamin planted a seed that grew really well.

Some of Maddie’s favorites consisted of playing instruments, fast cars and holding wild animals. The 13-year-old wrote and recorded a song that will later be released on iTunes after it is professionally recorded, Melanie said.

The song, “Don’t Count Me Out,” will be performed during Maddie’s funeral held 3 p.m., Wednesday at Northside Baptist Church. 

Amanda Usher is a reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times. She can be contacted at 229-244-3400 ext.1274.