​MORE THAN
A NUMBER
Echoes of Us began with our stories. During Sarah’s journey with cancer, she felt the silence that often surrounds illness — the fears and struggles that rarely appear in medical charts. Patients are often reduced to numbers, yet each person’s experience with treatment, symptoms, and healing is uniquely their own. Writing became her way to process her experience and to honor the stories of others navigating illness and care. Angelina, an artist drawn to memory and emotion, used her love of design to listen and to create a space where these stories could be shared and honored. Together we started Echoes of Us as a living archive — a place where stories are valued, connection grows, and no one’s journey is left unheard.
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To me, “live anyway” meant that if I was having a hard time walking, I'd get on the ground and stretch. Whatever my limitations were, I was going to live my life and live by this question “If I ended up in the hospital tomorrow, what would I want to do today?”
-Tasha Nathan
Sarah Downey
CO-FOUNDER + AUTHOR
Hello! I’m Sarah Downey—a bilingual writer, educator, and lifelong Rhode Islander with a passion for stories, language, and human connection. From a young age, I dreamed of becoming an author, doctor, educator, world traveler, and someone who would make a difference. I acted upon these childhood dreams through my undergraduate and graduate studies at Providence College (Class of 2024) and Central Connecticut University, through my frequent domestic and international travels, and through my work as a teacher in classrooms and community spaces across Rhode Island. In February 2024, I received a terminal diagnosis of cardiac angiosarcoma—a moment that redirected my path and led me to revisit my long-held interest in the field of medicine. Rather than from a purely biological or physiological standpoint, I entered into the field through the lens of Narrative Medicine. I found healing and meaning in stories: my own, and those of others navigating illness, care, and the question of mortality. As a patient, Echoes of Us has been my way of cultivating a space of healing. These stories are more than reflections of who we are—they are echoes of who we have been and of who we are yet to become.
Angelina Tanzi
CO-FOUNDER + CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Hi I'm Angelina! I am an artist from Providence, Rhode Island. I have been drawing, painting, and snapping photographs for as long as I can remember, as I have always been fascinated with capturing emotion and memories through my work across a multitude of different media. My time studying studio art at Providence College deepened my love for visual storytelling and naturally led me to work as a graphic designer. Echoes of Us is deeply personal to me. Through design, I try to honor each story we share. Design is how I listen. It’s my way of holding space—for emotion, for memory, for the parts of illness that often go unseen. Using my art to create something that brings people together in their most human moments has been the most personal and fulfilling work of my life.
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I was always a very “go with the flow” type. I speak up in every aspect of my life now. It could literally be life or death if I don’t.