Christina Aurora Bain

Christina Aurora deRoos Bain of Austin, TX passed away at 2:53 in the morning on Monday, February 8th, 2021 at age 37. She died from complications from colon cancer, initially diagnosed in 2015. She is survived by her husband, Wesley Bain, her daughter, Marlowe Bain, her father, Jan de Roos, her mother, Marie de Roos, and her sisters, Alex and Adriana de Roos. Though born in Houston, she grew up in Ithaca, NY. She attended Cornell University before moving to Austin in 2005 to attend grad school in evolutionary biology at the University of Texas. Christina was never personally fond of the "warrior" motif for describing cancer, but the truth is that she fought it like hell all the same. Not just against the cancer itself, but to make sure that whatever time she had left here was given meaning. She wanted to live a life of positive change and no regrets. She worked on numerous social groups, like Brentwood/Crestview's anti-racism group. She also served on The Livestrong Cancer Institutes' Young Adult Cancer Advisory Board, helping to provide insight on care needs for the brand new cancer center in Austin where she was one of the earliest patients. The latter allowed for many unique opportunities, including speaking at SXSW and a collaboration with Austin Classical Guitar to compose a song about her journey through treatment called Miles To Go (and available on Austin Classic Guitar's Soundcloud site). Christina was an avid crafter who built a huge community through knitting, sewing, and weaving groups. She worked her dream job for the website Ravelry, a knitting community, where she met many friends and professional acquaintances. She was extremely proud of hand-making her own clothing. She shared her journey through cancer and how it affected her crafting ability and decisions on her personal blog, Bearing the Weight (https://bearingthewait.com), as well as in several articles and podcast interviews (such as What to Make When You Are Dying for Seamwork Magazine and the Bearing the Weight episode of the Grief is a Sneaky Bitch podcast). She wanted her life to have low environmental impact and found crafting to be a wonderful way to create personal, lasting clothes using natural fibers. Christina was a fiercely loyal and loving wife and mother. She met her husband doing improvisational theater as part of Austin's arts community where she performed in several troupes for years. She was very close with her child and always looked for creative ways to work around the limitations caused by her disease to spend quality time with her. Together they created many happy memories watching and discussing storytelling in media, running a family book club, and playing communal video games. It was a home founded very much in humor, partnership, and teamwork. Due to the pandemic, there will be a very small, private viewing on February 10th at Austin natural Funerals, followed by a burial service at Eloise Woods natural burial park. There are so many more who would like to come than we can safely accommodate, so there will be a larger remembrance service on a date to be determined in the future--once the pandemic has passed--so that all her friends and family will be able to gather safely and celebrate her life together. Details on that will come at a later date. In lieu of flowers, and since Christina and her family own cats who would just knock them over and eat them anyway, please consider a donation instead to The Livestrong Cancer Institutes division of the Austin Dell Medical School at The University of Texas (https://utdirect.utexas.edu/apps/utgiving/online/nlogon/?menu=DM**) or to Wonders & Worries (https://connect.clickandpledge.com/w/Form/0083dbc5-f5dd-4beb-bcb3-37e4dfd7ced8).

Christina Aurora Bain

October 6, 1983 - February 8, 2021