Hi my name is Spencer. I’m shaving for St. Baldrick’s again because my sister Tuesday died from Neuroblastoma on January 30th, 2009. This is my second year and I want to do it for at least 7 years so I can get on the Knights of the Bald Table. I’m shaving my head for St. Baldrick’s because it raises the most money for childhood cancer. Please look at the St. Baldrick’s website. You can join Team Tuesday too. It doesn’t matter where you live. I hope you will support me in finding a cure for childhood cancer. Thank you.
I know. Super sweet, huh? Yes. It kills me. Go here to see the beautiful photos from last years’ event. And then search for a St. Baldricks event in your area and sign up! Or sign your kid up. Or your husband. Or your wife. Or your neighbor. Or your boss. You may or may not want to ask their permission first.
Give big. This will get us closer to finding a cure for her, and her, and him, and him, and the almost 13,000 kids that will be diagnosed with cancer this year. And for the 1 in 5 that will die. And all of them that will suffer life long side effects from treatment. It takes all of us. Not just those of us that have watched our children suffer and die. It takes you. It doesn’t only happen to other people’s kids. Trust me.
Posted 1 year ago at 6:32 pm. 22 comments
There are things along this journey of loss that may possibly hurt each one of us equally. The empty Christmas Stocking, hanging by the chimney with care, is one of those things. Last year we were in the RV, but we took our stockings on the road. We brought Tuesday’s stocking, which may seem totally odd, but it felt much odder to leave it at home. Our solution was to fill it with letters to Tuesday. It bulked it up a bit. It was a nice touch. I don’t know what anyone wrote or drew, but we all put pen to paper, folded up our words and tucked them tenderly inside. This year, when we hung our stockings, the pain was still as real and the questions from the kids about how Santa knows Tuesday is dead, were just as nausiating, but seeing that bit of form inside, knowing it was bits of our love for her, took the edge off.
When we sat to write our notes to Tuesday this Christmas, Spencer came up with a cool idea. He read on his box of 64 Crayola crayons with the sharpener, (I know!) that you can print coloring pages from your own photos. He asked to go through my iPhoto to find pictures of Tuesday. We found a bunch. I cried a bunch. Here are the results:
I loved this project. Going through photographs is draining. Transforming them in this way did something magical. Coloring is good for the soul.
If you don’t have a big box of Crayola Crayons and you’d like a box, leave me a comment and I’ll get one to you. I liked it that much! If you’d like to make a donation to whatchagonnado to purchase crayons for kids that have lost a sibling to cancer, go to www.whatchagonnado.org.
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 4:38 pm. 35 comments
Merry Christmas to the person who used our suffering for their financial gain.
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 11:47 am. 36 comments
As soon as it happened, I wanted to tell you, but really I think you needed to be there. Tonight I served dinned at the Denver Rescue Mission with Tuesday.
She was a 40 something black woman. She pointed at me, as I read Tuesday on her shirt. My heart started racing. I told her I lost my little girl, my Tuesday, and that I’ve never met another. She grabbed my hand and told me her daughter died 3 days ago. Maybe you don’t believe in Divine Intervention, but I know that after hearing person after person, when handed a warm plate of food, say “Thank you, Tuesday”, that I got the Christmas present that I needed most.
P.S. Spence, if you read this some day, know that your mom was so inspired by your tender heart.
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 10:24 pm. 27 comments
