Erica Lynn Miller

Erica Lynn Miller, 28 PORTLAND -- 'Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain.' This is how Erica Lynn Miller, 28, died on Saturday, March 7, 2009, at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, dancing her way out of this world surrounded by her family and friends after a heroic four-year battle with Leukemia. Erica was born in Portland on Sept. 30, 1980, the daughter of Robert 'Chip' and Gloria Miller. She graduated from Deering High School in 1999 and the University of New Hampshire in 2003, where she received a BA in Theatre with an emphasis in dance. Erica started to dance at the age of six and never stopped. Her dancing training included Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop. She was a member of the Gorham Community Ballet, Dance Studio of Maine Competition Teams, UNH Dance Competition Team and the UNH Dance Company. She set off for New York City after graduating from UNH, where she also trained for the trapeze, and continued her training at Broadway Dance Center and Mark Morris Dance Group. In New York, she was a member of Mystic Steps Inc. and also had a small part in the movie Alchemy. Erica moved to Lebanon, N.H. in the fall of 2004 where her love of teaching brought her to Dancer's Corner. She enjoyed inspiring others to dance, but had to put teaching on hold due to her illness. Instead of teaching dance in between her treatments, she worked at King Arthur Flour as a customer Service Representative. Erica was a loving and devoted stepmother. She spent a lot of time in the stands cheering on her children at various activities. Her love of dance will be carried on in her stepdaughter, Alexandra. Her stepsons, Nicholas and Colin, will remember her every time they cheer for the Red Sox. She is survived by her parents; her siblings, Matthew Miller and his wife Katie of Westbrook, Andrew, Allison and Timothy Miller of Portland; her boyfriend Sean Bradley of West Lebanon, N.H.; her stepchildren, Nicholas Bradley, Colin Haviland and Alexandra Bradley; and many other family and friends. The family would like to thank all the nurses, doctors and staff of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center, the Bone Marrow Transplant Team and especially those in the Hematology Special Care Unit, who cared for Erica over the past four years and became members of her family. A celebration of her life will be held at Woodford's Congregational Church in Portland on March 21, 2009, the first day of spring, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H. Contributions may also be made to the Teams in Training event sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: http://pages.teamintraining.org/ ma/lkplacid09/kmillerxwd Erica Lynn Miller