Every member of our staff and board has been personally affected by cancer. Our collective experience fuels our passion for serving families currently living with cancer. Here are just a few of our stories.
Family Services and Resource Manager
Cancer doesn’t necessarily sneak in and just steal elderly grandparents. It also claims our youngest…those on the cusp of adulthood, excited to see what their future holds.
Brain cancer was the demon that stole my incredible 24-year-old nephew Alex from a loving family and a band of devoted friends. Alex was an absolute joy ~ a loving son, a fiercely loyal brother, and the friend that most hope for, but few ever find. During his 12-year battle, cancer slowly robbed him of abilities all young men take for granted ~ the ability to shoot hoops, play pickup football, or even walk without a cane. However, cancer never touched Alex’s heart. He made it his mission to not only put a positive spin on his experience, but to be a source of comfort for others. His signature tagline on each of his Facebook posts was #legendsneverdie ~ and we were all betting on it.
Alex endured five brain surgeries and countless hours of chemo and radiation yet ultimately, his fragile body couldn’t take any more. I held him the day he was born and, 24 painfully short years later, on September 1, 2014, I whispered my final goodbye to one of the sweetest souls I have ever known. He was surrounded by an adoring family that still aches from his absence every single day.
Director of Finance
My story begins before I was born and continues to influence our family’s life today. To me, this is a story of God’s greater purpose, not one that ends in grief.
In the 1960s, my mom and dad had three daughters before I came along. When it came time for Laura Lynn, the middle daughter, to start kindergarten, she just didn’t want to go. Laura complained of constant tummy aches, which my mother wrote off as normal start of school jitters. When she finally threatened to take her to the doctor if she wouldn’t go to school, my mom was surprised how easily Laura agreed to go the doctor.
The doctors soon discovered a football-sized tumor in my sister’s stomach. Laura died that February from a cancer that could not be treated. According to my oldest sister’s account, it was very traumatic and sad for our family as they went through their grieving process. My sisters were just age seven and two at the time Laura died..
After a few years had passed, my mother told her doctor she wanted another baby. Soon after, she was pregnant with me. During a routine check-up, she complained that “the baby’s foot is always RIGHT HERE,” pointing to the constant source of discomfort in her stomach. “That’s not the baby’s foot,” he told her, yet at the time, no tests were done on pregnant women to determine just what that pressing lump was.
As soon as I was born, my mom had a full hysterectomy and her ovarian cancer was confirmed. My mom has told me, it was as if God had given me to her so she would discover the cancer. She stayed in the hospital for treatment for a month while I went home to the care of dad, grandma, and neighbors. I was this miracle baby. Nobody knows God’s big picture, but my mom’s feeling was that God’s master plan was that he needed her to be a mom here on Earth. I was not a replacement for Laura, but it had been a time of such deep sadness and then I brought this joy – a new, happy baby!
Today I’m still the peacemaker, representative, and party & trip planner of the family, just trying to make everybody happy. I didn’t know that early on, but as I’ve gotten older, it’s become apparent that I’ve fulfilled the role that I was destined to play. My mom is now a three-time cancer survivor and is doing great.
As for me, I believe God always has a greater purpose, and He works all things for good. Sometimes, we will be blessed in our lifetime to know it.