Ramble On

Almost 11 years ago my 5-year-old cousin (really second cousin, but we all just call ourselves cousins) passed away due to complications from Leukemia. He was diagnosed at age 3. Whenever he was allowed to have some time out of the hospital his parents and himself would come visit with us because we lived close. It was the first time I was ever really around a "sick" person. I never thought he would pass away, it just didn't occur to me that this little innocent child would have to suffer through all that pain and time in the hospital to not come out the other side. He never even got to go to school, drive a car, kiss a girl, it's so unfair that children get sick.  it's still raw and it's something that I don't think I'm ever going to get over. After he died was when my entire world shifted, my brother stopped believing in God, I started being afraid of everything and gave birth to a little boy who I was planning to give up for adoption on the day that my cousin was buried (my cousin passed away Dec 9, he was buried Dec 13, and my son was born that day).

One of the little girl's in my daughter's 1st grade class is going through treatment for leukemia, her name is Emily. This is her second relapse and she's moved on to experimental treatments to try to get her back into remission so she can get a bone marrow transplant. I don't think I need to tell you guys how much her story reminds me of my cousins'.