What Really Matters?!
24 April 2015 @ 20:05
Since 1992 I have found myself immersed in the lives of chronically and critically ill children and their families. These have been years of incredible trial and pain and yet times of the most heartfelt laughter and joy. The faith of children, and their families, has changed me. It is in this place that I have come to know my best friends. Today Facebook had been filled with posts of sadness and sorrow over the ‘TV death’ of a character on the show Grey’s Anatomy, yet a child loses the battle against childhood cancer approximately every 6 minutes, and we don’t seem to be too upset over that. I just returned from the visitation for one of my little 10 year old buddies where his mother talked of this being the last time that she could dress her three boys alike. I have been visiting this little guy for the past 5 years since his diagnosis. He has touched me with all of the incredible faith, joy and magic that comes with childhood. Just three weeks ago he told me that he prayed for me every day. How humbling. I will be singing at his funeral tomorrow and I find myself wondering what it would take to get people on Facebook talking about the horror of this disease and becoming involved in finding cures. If not a cure for childhood cancer, how about a cure for congenital heart disease or cystic fibrosis or muscular dystrophy or one of the other diseases that take these precious children, my friends, way too soon? Sorry to put this out there but my heart is so broken tonight over one more senseless death of a child while our obsession seems to be over with the loss of a fictional TV character. I just don’t get it! Goodnight.