30 Days, 30 Ways: Day 25 and Day 26

Day 25: Fact - September's almost over! Kind of a silly fact today. :) But the month is almost over. As you might have noticed from the way posts have been going lately (missing a day here and there)- life is busy as always and I'm getting tired. Daily posting is no joke- especially when you care desperately about what you're posting about. I want to put so much into each post and really try and express my feelings and passion, but as silly as it sounds, that really takes a lot out of you. Anyways, sorry for the rambling (I'm good at that).

So..... I'm tired (of these posts) and I bet you might be, too. :) But, no matter that that may be, we will press on because there are thousands and thousands of little ones suffering right now who can't speak for themselves who need us to be their voice. I wish I could give every single person a glimpse into some of the things we've seen over the last year and a half-

• to take a walk around the ICS unit
• to see the families - in shock and looking completely shattered - in the days after a new diagnosis
• to FEEL what the words, "Your child has cancer" are like - to feel that feeling in that moment
• to see the look on your little child's face when you have to tell them for the one millionth time, "No, you can't go do (...enter normal kid activity here...), your counts are too low."
• to know the background and personal stories of the cancer families we know
• to see your child getting made fun of by kids at school because they don't have hair or because "they have a boy's haircut"
• to hear from a friend that their child is dying (of the same disease your child has) and the end is coming soon
• to know the frustration that comes when your child, who is off treatment, is suffering from horrible, debilitating late effects of chemotherapy and the doctors won't treat them because the local "Late Effects Clinic" is for those 18 and older

I wish so much that I could make every single person on earth truly understand those things - to understand that they are real and they are happening every moment of every day, unfortunately. Every single thing I listed above has either happened to us or to a close friend whose child has cancer. This is why we can't stop just yet....

Awareness=Funding=Research=CURES!

Today I just wanted to remind you that September- Childhood Cancer Awareness Month - is ending soon. And I want to leave you with this thought I adapted from GoldtheNewPink's website:

The end of September is nearing. Have you ignited a fire? If not, do it for warriors like Elena. Do it for warriors who no longer fight. Do it for the warriors to come. Do it so no more warriors ever have to fight.

Day 26: Challenge - Take a few minutes to read some things. I wrote a while back about our friends, the Torres', who were holding a gigantic Alex's Lemonade Stand Grand Stand. They had their event last Saturday and it was a big success. Although they didn't reach their goal of $10,000, they came very close and raised $9,300! A tremendous amount of money for childhood cancer research! I want to post two links:

Our cancer friend, Skyler's, mom's recap of their visit to the lemonade stand, so you can get a taste of what it was like.

and

Kristin's (Brinley's mom) recap of the day and some of her feelings about the event. She perfectly captured some very real feelings and provides some great insight into why we fight so hard for awareness and support. I couldn't say it any better myself and she really describes a lot of my feelings.

*** Don't forget to eat at Chili's tonight - tonight is the big donation night!