Memory of Hartland Teen Inspires Charity Concert in Royal Oak

The late Kendal Lividini would sing so loudly, her father, John, fondly recalls yelling at the junior to shut her bedroom door just so he could hear the television. 

“She used to know the words to like every song that came on radio, which I never understood," John Lividini said. "I can hear songs for years and still not know the words.”

Inspired by Kendal’s love of music, the charity founded in her memory — Team Kendal Kidz — is hosting at the Royal Oak Music Theater. B-DAB and Radioactive are performing. Tickets start at $32 and proceeds will go to the Children’s Cancer Research Fund.

“The only reason we’re doing a concert is because Kendal was a music nut,” said Lividini, who earlier this year featured an example of her daughter singing in a YouTube video to raise leukemia awareness (See video to right).

“I think a concert would bring a smile from ear to ear. It’s very fitting.”

Picking Children's Cancer Research Fund was no accident, either. Kendal, who had already survived leukemia as a child only to have it return 12 years later, spent her last few months at University of Minnesota Medical Center before she died in January. Her parents plan to return to there Sunday to hand-deliver a check with money raised from Friday’s concert and participate in a memorial.

“They opened a new hospital there and they have Kendal’s name on a digital waterfall that we really want to see,” Lividini said. “And the main reason we want to go is on Monday, they’re having a memorial there for people who have passed that we want to be a part of.”

Such ties to Kendal's life also are woven throughout other efforts to honor her memory. The charity has raised $12,000 for the Special Days Camp, a place where Kendal had once hoped to work at someday, from two summer fundraisers, including a softball event .

The Lividinis also are writing a book about their daughter — whose determination inspired the Hartland area community including a large group of her classmates to organize fundraisers and as she underwent treatment for the disease. More than 500 people .

Sixty pages in, the book will chronicle their experiences with Kendal, her illness and dealing and coping with her death. John Lividini says that many of the experiences his family and friends have had since Kendal’s death, including sensing her presence, will also be included in the narrative.

“They’re just very inspirational types of stories,” he said. “I’ve always spent my entire life — up until the last nine months or year — if I can’t touch it or see it, I have a hard time believing it. But too much has happened.

“It’s like the book that I thought was ending five months ago, six months ago. These stories that are fascinating, are still coming.”

One example is a group photo taken of Kendal’s close friends during Hartland's homecoming dance a few weeks ago. At the end of the line of girls, a circle of light appears in the picture. (See photo with this story).

“I believe that’s her,” Lividini said. “Before they (the girlfriends) took that picture, they were saying that they specifically took that picture to put it on her Facebook and tag it as best friends and soul mates.”