Hi Sweet-Pea…it’s me! Today is one of those bitter sweet days. The sweet part is it’s your little bro’s birthday. Yep! JT is now a teenager…crazy! I just love this picture of the two of you when you were young…so full of joy and laughter.
The bitter part is cancer never let you see your 13th birthday. That just sucks! I wonderful all the time what you look like now. You are 16. I’m sure you are still as beautiful as ever. Blonde hair, blue eyes and that wonderful tan skin you had. I bet your smile is as bright as ever too. You always had the greatest smile that could make any bad day disappear in seconds.
I talked with a family yesterday that has a little girl with DIPG. Hearing their tears just crushed my heart. They are living with as much hope as they can and I applaud them for that. It seems like I get the opportunity to talk with more and more families facing childhood cancer. I know this will sound weird, but I LOVE IT! I’m so thankful I can be a source of information and safe place to vent. Everyone needs that in their lives.
Like cancer, I hate DIPG. It’s so unfair but life is never fair so I just have to play the cards God dealt me the best I can. Some days I just want to hand the deck back and say…“New game please” but that isn’t an option. So I embrace your NEGU motto everyday of my life choosing to be better rather than bitter.
We are working on our new campaign for September called 30 Days of Joy! I hope people join us in raising awareness and money so we can spread joy to children and families this coming December. The holidays are when families need extra boosts of JOY! One of the cool features of this campaign is people will get a chance to build their own JoyMob and mob a family each day with hope, joy and love. We are working on some cool incentives for the largest JoyMob. It’s going to be so fun spread massive amounts of joy during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Another thing I’m starting in June is a weekly inspiration called…Jessie’s JoyDrops! I love writing and helping people feel encouraged so I thought this could be a way to focus on the positives in life. Maybe someday I can write a “Daily Joy Drop” for people but for now I’m going to start with weekly. One thing for sure, you will be the inspiration behind anything I write.
I love you so much Jess. I think about you countless times a day and still share tears of love with the family. I’ll give JT an extra hug from you today. Off to sing him “Happy Birthday”.
xoxo
daddy