Lately, I have been noticing a lot more commercials for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. They have a huge campaign in gear trying to raise money to help more kids with cancer. Every time I see something about St. Jude's I think of what happened this past summer.My co-worker, Dawn, had often spoken of her best friend's son James. James is six years old and the son of Diane and George. Diane and George have been friends with Dawn and Mark since 1987. Dawn and Di carried their sons together and gave birth just six months apart. Michael and James became best friends and saw each other frequently until Dawn, Mark and Michael moved to Illinois. The two families have not lost touch or their friendship and meet up at least once a year. In Dec 2004, young James was diagnosed with a cancer known as Wilm's Tumor. Earlier this year they noticed the tumors getting smaller with treatments. Unfortunately, the treatments did not continue to be successful and late July the family notified friends that there is nothing else they can do and they only expected James to live another month.
James passed away August 10th in his sleep.
These families have been through so much. If you would like to make a contribution to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in James's name, please follow this link: Donate
St. Jude's Celebrity Friends
(Click photos for videos)
The Celebrity Friends Video
Dang Red. Now I feel sad.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed the ads too, Red. I think it's a wonderful cause.
ReplyDeleteSt. Jude is special not just because they are constantly searching for medical advances, but also because of how they treat their patients.
The hospital is full of art, places for the kids to 'just be kids' and comforting spaces. The coolest thing, I think, is how they painted the ceilings so that the kids would have something amazing to watch as they were wheeled into surgery.
On a more personal note, I hurt for your friends' loss. No parent should ever have to bury their child. They will be in my prayers tonight.
Pax.
So sorry to hear about James. No child should have to go through what he went through. Hopefully with the help of St. Jude, children in the future won't have to. I encourage everyone to send a few bucks to St. Jude, and for those of you who live in Tennessee, consider volunteering for St. Jude.
ReplyDeleteRed, thanks for including St. Jude and James on your BLOG site. I am so thankful for everything that St. Jude did for James, George and I. Dr. Dome's team is wonderful. I am also thankful for the Ronald McDonald House which provided our home away from home (the pictures were taken there). They also did so much to provide a happy, positive environment geared for the children. I would encourage anyone who is considering a charitable donation to do so for one of these organizations...their operating expense is immense but the people volunteering/working for these organizations have hearts that are even larger.
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