Children shouldn't have to play with IV lines attached to the back of their hands. But they do. Cancer made it so. Here are some stories of some of those brave kids I have met in some of those playrooms. To be honest I never wanted to able to tell...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Your heart will be broken time and time again. And time and again it will heal. That is just a fact of your life if you want to be one of those special people who make the choice to surround themselves with children who have cancer. There is no way around that. It takes a strong person to give your heart away to these kids knowing it will never be the same when you get it back.
As much as you go to hospitals and fundraising events, you will also go to funerals. Many of them. We don't like to talk about those, but they are a fact of life with cancer. The fight against cancer is not a fair fight. Sometimes cancer wins and you have to brace yourself for that. This life is not for the weak.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
(Maritza with Kaitlyn Renee Sifuentes 2008-2016)
But if you are a person like Maritza Esqueda you keep fighting anyway. You go seek out the children who are suffering, and you do everything you can to help them and their families through this terrible time in their lives. You give of parts of yourself that you know will never be the same again from that moment on.
Maritza Esqueda is one of those special people who gives her time and talents to help families of children with cancer. One of her many talents is from behind the camera. This past year she put together a special calendar to raise money for the Faith, Family, and Friends Foundation that helps local families who have been touched by cancer. Every month of this calendar showcases a beautiful picture of one of our local heroes who is currently fighting cancer. Brave kids who fight hard every day to just survive this horrible disease. Some of the pictures (September) are dedicated to children who passed away this last year. They are our angels.
A calendar is a perfect homage to our children with cancer. A calendar gives us a snapshot of our lives. It represents a year of ups and downs. Bravery and strength. This calendar makes us take a step back and look at our lives, and gain strength from these children who fight so hard just to stay alive. This calendar represents our future hopes.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
(Maritza with some of the kids signing their calendars at Doctors Hospital at Renaissance in Edinburg)
As adults we have seen a lot of ugly things in our lives. We are made cynical and bitter by our past experiences and we all have a tendency to see the worst in people, or in a situation that we are in. But all you have to do is take one look at the beautiful faces in this calendar and go back to a time where we were at our best. A time where we represented everything that was good in this world. These children in this calendar have a good reason to be upset and discouraged with this world. They have a reason to be bitter. But they aren't bitter or upset. They are facing this challenge with the strength that many of us have lost as adults. They are teaching us how to be heroes again.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
(Elian is a 3 year old from La Joya fighting OMS with Nueroblastoma)
Pick up one of these calendars and take a look at these children. You will find in their eyes things that might be missing in you. These kids will give you a strength you have long forgotten.
None of these kids chose this fight. All of them would rather just be left alone by cancer. But that wasn't the cards they were dealt.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
(My grandson Andre. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 2015)
These kids will break your heart. But they will also heal it. They will wrap themselves around your soul in a way you didn't think a child who wasn't yours could do. They will give you so much more than you could possibly give them. They will make you a better person.
I had a friend tell me the other day that this was too sad to look at. They bought a calendar to help support these kids, but don't have the heart to put it up. I understand that. But I told them that as hard as it is too see these children, it is much harder to live their life. Don't look away. Be strong and help as often as you can. Be the kind of person that will reach deep inside, fight the tears, and help these children fight. Be like Maritza Esqueda. Be like Ariedny Garcia and Cristy Mercado. Be the kind of person that will not look away.
These kids just want to lead a normal life. They didn't do anything wrong. They don't deserve what is happening to them. They shouldn't have to go through this alone. They are fighting a hard fight and need our help. The Faith, Family, and Friends Foundation is doing something about it. Contact Maritza Esqueda or myself and find out where you can get one of these beautiful calendars. Or ask where you can make a donation. All the money raised from these calendars goes to families from the Rio Grande Valley that need your help. Please help if you can.
