Rain, Rain Go Away!

For those of us living in and near Chicago, it has been raining for what feels like days! We were suppose to attend the "Celebrate Life" festival through Children's today. It is a once-a-year celebration for children that have had transplants; whether it's stem cell, lung, liver, heart, etc. Unfortunately due to the cold, wet, and rain, we opted out. We are all teetering with colds.
We had another wonderful event last weekend. We were invited to attend a gala event for Ace Hardware in Oak Brook. Ace, is a wonderful contributor to the Children's Miracle Network. Last year they raised something like over $600, 000. Wow! It was a wine tasting, silent/live auction, and dinner. My mom-in-laws favorite handyman, Lou
Manfredini, was the host. It was a blast! Randy spoke so beautifully, and left everyone in tears. Part of his speech included excerpts from a piece entitled, "The Monster", which I included below. It was written by a fellow neuroblastoma parent. It's incredibly powerful and poignant.
In June Aidan will take his ambassadorship to new heights! (literally) Aidan has been named "Ambassador for Six Flags Great America"! Wowsers. Cool, huh? Six Flags and Cure Kids Cancer organization will be hosting an event called "A Walk in the Park". Check out the specifics at www.walkintheparks.org. We are hoping to get a "Team Aidan" together. The date in Saturday, June 27th. We will be speaking and sharing Aidan's story. After the walk, we are free to play in the park for the rest of the day! It should be a blast. We hope you can make it.
Our next Oncology appointment is May 20th. I am already a nervous wreck. Please pray for a clean bill of health. Hugs to you all and Happy Spring!

The Monster

There's a monster. It lives in our house.
It moved in a long time ago. It must have been hiding in the walls because we didn't notice him for the longest time. But it was there. It's the funniest thing because I never really believed in monsters. I thought they were the stuff of fairy tales. Imaginary beasts that people made up to explain their fears. They weren't real though. Were they?

But now I know they are real. The thing about monsters is they're not just big and scary and with sharp teeth. Bears are big and scary with sharp teeth, but they're not monsters. The difference is that the monster has a malevolent streak. It's not there because it wants to eat your garbage; it's there because it means to do you harm. Disney got it all wrong in Monsters Inc. Don't believe it. That's all imaginary. Those kinds of cute cuddly monsters don't exist. Steven King has it right.

The monster sometimes comes into our room at night and slithers underneath the bed. Its hot breath comes right through the mattress. It leaves me sweating, scared, unable to sleep. And then a chill settles in like the window was left open on a January night.

We’ve tried to kill it a dozen times. Sometimes it seems like we’re winning, but still it won’t die. And even if we kill it, I have this terrible feeling it will come back from the dead like just like in the sequel to a bad horror movie.

It's a clever beast and follows us wherever we go. There’s no escape. We can never see it because it hides in the shadows, but it’s always there and has ways of making its presence known. We can’t live a normal life.

When we got the dog, we thought maybe he would scare the monster away. The dog is smart and brave, but somehow he doesn't see the monster. The monster, though, is keeping its distance. But somehow I think it might be smarter than the dog and just waiting for its moment.

Try to explain a monster to your friends. They can hear what we’re saying, but they don’t quite believe us. We still have all of our body parts, and none of us has quite gone insane. They’ve never seen the monster even though they’ve been to the house. Still they get the sense that something isn’t quite right. Some of them keep their distance. Now we just smile and say, "Oh the monster...he’s gone back inside the wall. We’re doing fine."

Sometimes our monster doesn't seem so scary. On a sunny day, when the kids run in the park laughing and playing, we forget that it’s back there waiting for us. You have to forget for a while, or it will get inside your mind and drive you over the edge.

There are professionals who know how to deal with monsters. Ordinary folks never meet them other than on a social basis. We feel better when we're with the professionals. They seem to know what they're doing. But at night when we are home alone, there is just us... and the monster. The chill returns.

There's a monster. It lives in our house. It lives in our boy.