For my entire childhood, like most children, I looked forward to one thing: Summer. Summer was the golden time of year that school was out, vacation was in and I got to relax. But most of all it was the time my grandma and I got to go up state to see my aunts and cousins. Every summer for years we traveled together to Northern California, where we would meet my cousins and go on trips to Disneyland, Yosemite or Point Reyes, just enjoying the time spending time together as a family and bonding. My cousins and I played fairies together, we laughed together, we watched movies and had popcorn late at night and told stories until we fell asleep. It was during these trips with my cousins that I learned to swim, fell in love with American Girl dolls, and saw the first waterfall I had ever seen. Summers were a time of magic, innocence and fun. I was so blessed to have the chance to create those golden memories during my childhood.
But summer doesn't last forever, and neither does the innocence of youth.Talking about childhood cancer is incredibly difficult. When we think of children we tend to think of joy, of freedom, of a carefree time of simplicity. But for many children, it isn't so simple. For some children their innocence it is cut short, marred by the cruelty of a diagnosis that threatens their lives. Every year, 15,780 children are diagnosed with cancer. Cancer still remains the most common death by disease in American children, and as well all know, there is no definite cure. Every three minutes, a family is devastated by the news that their beloved child has been diagnosed, and must begin a journey into pain, endurance and the strength of love. For my cousin Emma, and many like her, this was the case.
Imagine your own 12th birthday. For most, this was a day filled with excitement, perhaps a party, gifts and a birthday cake. It was likely not spent suffering through severe migraines in bed, wondering what was happening to you. Imagine being diagnosed with stage four brain cancer shortly after this birthday. Imagine the fear, the sadness, the realization that your time is limited. Imagine the knowledge that you had to say goodbye to friends and loved ones. To your mother, and father, your siblings, grandparents and friends. To say goodbye to your life, ending before it had really began. Imagine the pressure to make every moment count, even so young. Imagine packing your bags, moving from place to place, living in hospitals with other people suffering the same type of disease, building connections with those who too would soon have to say goodbye. consequently had brain surgery to remove the tumor. Imagine having to have brain surgery. Imagine that being followed with radiation and two years experimental chemotherapy drugs that had no guarantee of working which prevented your doctor from saying that you were officially in remission. Imagine years of resuming life again. Of hoping it was all just a bad dream you woke up from. Years of good times, of fun, of amazing experiences through programs like Make a Wish, going back to school, going to prom, spending time with family and loved ones. Imagine that being shattered all over again in four short years when the time came to resume the battle again.
Emma was a normal person. She was funny, silly, loving and creative. She loved to draw, to imagine, to laugh. She loved fairytales and happy endings. She was sweet, sensitive and caring. She was a student, a sister, a daughter, a friend and most of all, she was still a child whose life was cut short. She wasn't given the chance to grow up, to have a family, pursue a career, or build her life. Our family will never know what beautiful things her future could have held because that opportunity was taken from her by a disease that ended her life too soon. Cancer may be a thief of time cancer, but it is a reinforce of hope. It strengthens love. It invigorates endurance. It unifies together in faith.
"Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit."
~Robert L. Lynn
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. You may be only one person, but by spreading awareness about this disease, by believing in fairytales that Em loved so much, by volunteering at and donating to organizations that help children rise up against overwhelming odds, and by never giving up, you CAN make a difference. Because cancer is so limited, but love is not.
http://www.acco.org/awareness-advocacy/go-gold/
http://www.rmhc.org/ronald-mcdonald-house
