Charlotte's Journey

F or all of you who have loved and cared for our family over the last 5 years while we helped Charlotte battle her cancer, we are proud to share with you our special news! Brian and I have started Be The Rainbow Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, focusing on supporting families facing childhood cancer. We are so blessed to be in the space and time to give back and help in any way we can. And as always, we are so grateful to have all of you with us, helping to truly make a different for families facing the unimaginable. Stay tuned for more information as we begin and kick off Be The Rainbow Foundation! For now, like us on Facebook @betherainbow.org, and visit our website www.betherainbow.org to follow our work and to donate! Thanks for sharing and helping us grow our village! (feel free to share the donation page as well https://betherainbow.networkforgood.com/ ) Thank you GOD for this day, this season, this opportunity, and all the things yet to come.

Today is International Childhood Cancer Day. I wanted to reach back to where we were during treatment during this week as compared to where Charlotte is today. 5 years ago, we were in Philadelphia for radiation treatment where she would undergo anesthesia daily for a month of proton beam therapy. Aside from being away from our home and family, it was the easiest phase of treatment. Imagine that. Imagine this being the easiest part—living in an unfamiliar city, away from your home and family, being put to sleep daily for 4 weeks so that a beam of radiation would target the correct spots. But back then her dreams were heartbreakingly simple. She dreamed of not having to have anymore “medicine” for her cancer, of going home, of going to school with her siblings and friends, of not hurting and feeling sick anymore. Today, her dreams are still simple like an 8 year olds should be, but they are bigger too. She dreams of a future beyond the world of cancer as she understood it. What if we cou...

 I’ve struggled posting this update: For those who have been praying for Elijah, he passed away early Christmas Eve morning, after fighting the bravest fight for 5 years. His cancer progressed with vengeance. He was taken off the trial and brought home, where he could be at peace surrounded by all his siblings and his parents until God called him home. His mother Samantha’s faith has inspired me over the years. To do what was asked of this family is unthinkable and yet she still has the most gracious faith. I will forever be changed by witnessing Elijah’s journey through his mother’s narrative. I know Elijah got to be with Jesus for Christmas and I pray that God helps guide us in our mission to help families just like Elijah’s in whatever way we are able. Thank you for lifting this family in prayer

 Charlotte’s scans are CLEAR, marking the farthest out from therapy she has been without reoccurrence. I didn’t want to put this out into the universe in words, but her scans today were at the identical interval that we found out she had suffered a relapse. Not today cancer. Not today. And not our baby girl❤️🌈Thanks for your loving prayers everyone—we felt every single one. Thank you GOD for this day and now we can focus on the JOY of Christmastime. #charlottestrong

I hesitated picking up the phone this morning, but something told me to. Although Charlotte’s been having scans during every December for the past 5 years, this December interval remains the hardest one for us. Partly because we are trying to remain in the Christmas spirit while also balancing an enormous amount of anxiety. Those 2 are like oil to water. How can one exist inside the other? So we try to do some of the things we do best—we keep SUPER busy, we pray, we put our brave and calm faces on for our children, and we let God in. So I listened and I picked up the phone. It was our pastor calling to pray for Charlotte’s scans this week and for our family. I want to run and hide sometimes, but then how can I let God work in my life and help us fight for Charlotte by doing that? And so the birth of something very special that Brian and I have had on our hearts for a very long time has happened. We have started a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Be The Rainbow Foundation, to help support other fam...

 This little light in the world is 8 today. As I glanced at her very first picture in our arms, and her very first birthday pictures, I was reminded of all the hopes we held in our hearts for our baby Charlotte. We could never know the road her life would take us back then of course, but those hopes still remain fierce and strong and POSSIBLE. Thank you God for gifting us this special soul to raise and to love. She continues to make every day of our lives more richer, more meaningful, and more joyful. I know you all celebrate every single milestone with us and thank you for loving our Charlotte. Happy birthday sweet girl! We love you so

If you ask a child “What would you like to be one day?” You might expect them to answer with anything other then “An adult.” But that’s the reality of 1 in every 285 children who will be diagnosed with cancer before their 20th birthday (ACCO.org stats) Will you help us, village? It seems rare and far removed, until it isn’t.  Have I ever shared that one of my best childhood friends, whom I grew up with throughout middle and high school AND roomed with for a year at Virginia Tech had a son who lost his battle with Stage IV Neuroblastoma few years before Charlotte was diagnosed with the same disease? In fact, one of the reasons I went into a physical state of shock when Charlotte’s official diagnosis returned was because I knew that word, Neuroblastoma. I knew what it was because I watched Trevor fight Neuroblastoma through his own carepage that his family would update. And I knew he fought so hard but gained his angel wings anyway. I literally hit the floor in shock and anguish when...