For Ronan

In May, I was up late one night surfing the Internet and stalking Facebook. A high school acquaintance had posted a link to her family's blog and I clicked over to read her post. I scrolled back and read a few past posts, including one where she showed her son releasing a balloon for a little boy named Ronan and put a link to Ronan's mom's blog. I clicked over and read the most raw, real, heart wrenching story I had ever come across. Ronan was a beautiful little boy who was taken by cancer in May, a few days before his 4th birthday. My family was all asleep and I wept as I read his mother's brave and beautiful account of sweet Ronan's last moments on the earth. I then went in to all of my babies rooms, my face still wet with tears, and kissed them all, thanking God for their health and praying that he would continue to bless them and keep them safe.

Then...July 7th came, and our world exploded. In the first few days of diagnosis, when the word "neuroblastoma" was being thrown around, this little boy's story started to gnaw at me. I knew it wasn't a good idea for me to start searching the Internet, because I was still in shock...but I felt like I had to know that Nate had something different than Ronan had. I found Ronan's blog and there it was, staring at me...NEUROBLASTOMA. It actually ended up being a good thing because Ronan's mom, Maya, had a bunch of helpful links on her site for parents of kids with this disease. I wanted to write to her but decided against it. It had only been 2 months since Ronan's passing, I didn't think she needed to be burdened my story.

I thought about her and her sweet boy constantly for the next couple months and finally decided that I wanted to contact her to let her know that she and Ronan had inspired me to cherish my family more...even before we knew that the same monster was growing inside of Nate. I sent her a short email and almost immediately received a response from her asking how she could help us. I am in awe of the strength, bravery and compassion Maya has shown. She is living with a deep, searing pain every single moment and she is still willing to reach out to help another little boy and his family.

I met with Maya last week to seek some advise about this path we are on...also to get and give a hug. We talked, cried and held hands as she gave me a number of tips that will make this process smoother for us. She said she would be there for us, no matter what we need.

Maya has a foundation, The Ronan Thompson Foundation, and she and her "mafia" are raising money for research and to help other families. I really feel like Maya will make a real difference in this disease. She is determined to fund research that will find a cure and I believe she can do it.

Ronan was a beautiful little boy with haunting blue eyes who she describes as full of life and mischief. She says that he was totally obsessed with Star Wars and they always used to say "I love you to the moon and back" to eachother. I met with Maya at the end of last week. Then, this weekend Nate wanted to watch Star Wars and play light sabers...a little strange because as much as Chis and I love Star Wars, neither of our boys is way too interested in it. Nate has also been OVERLY mischievous....I've been tearing my hair out a bit. Then, Tuesday morning Nate dug through our DVDs to find Star Wars and insisted on bringing it in the car to take Wes to school. On the way home from dropping Wes off, Nate hollered at me to turn the radio down...I did..."Mommy, I love you to the moon and back", he said. I almost drove off the road. This is something I have said before...mostly with Wes...but it has never been a "thing". Maybe it's Ronan, maybe it's not...but I feel him around us, helping Nate fight this cancer, helping him through...and it makes me smile.

This morning, I found out that Maya is nominated for a blog award on Babble.com for moms that are changing the world. She is in second place and the winner receives $5000. Maya said that if she wins, she will donate the money to Nate!! It would be such a blessing to us as it would help to alleviate some of our financial burden. I am so blown away by the generosity of everyone around us. Today, Maya wants to help us "cure" our little boy. Tomorrow, I swear I will help her raise the money for a real cure.

So please, click on the link below and go to Babble to vote for Maya Thompson! Post it on your Facebook page and ask your friends to vote too!

http://mom.babble.com/mom/mominations/mominees/charity/maya-thompson