Mikey: Keeping Hope

This book is dedicated to Rosey Gee, my friend's father, Nick and to every other person fighting or fought cancer. I want this book to remind all of you to never give up hope. Please remember through God, you can always Keep Hope.

Chapter 1-Hope

Since she was born, Hope was an adventurous girl. She would always crawl around to see what everything was and how it worked. One time she almost called the police after getting a hold of the phone. And even Marie said, "She is going to do great things when she is older."

And once in Mikey's life, he had Hope and he wanted to hold and keep Hope forever. As she got older, she and Mikey became really close. He loved her and she loved him. And they both had something in common. Eczema. Although Mikey had suffered through it, he helped Hope with it. She had a worse case than he did though. She would scratch and scratch for hours on end whenever she was put to bed. And every night Mikey would cry. "Mikey, are you okay?" Meque would say sleepily.

"Yes, hon." he would say with tears running down his hardened face.

"Mikey, this isn't your fault." Meque said comforting him.

"No, but I just hate that she has to live with it. I already did, why her?"

"Because it is in God's plan. Everything is going to be okay." she said holding him close.

"I know, Meque. I know."

During the day, she was a happy little angel. She would run through the grass, the sun shining off of her golden blonde hair. And she had the sweetest laugh. "Come on daddy." she would happily say, "I found a bug."

"Oh really, sweetie?" he said fascinated.

"Look daddy, it's pretty." she said pointing to a butterfly.

"Why yes it is. Do you know what kind of bug that is Hope?" he asked.

"Umm..." she thought, "It's a flying pretty bug."

Smiling, he said, "That's a butterfly. And butterflies are symbols of hope and change." He found a catepillar. "You see this bug? This one will eventually change into a butterfly."

"Oh wow daddy." she said with a big smile, "So can I change into a beautiful butterfly?" she said pointing at the cuts and scratches on her arms.

He almost started to cry, but just said, "You are already a beautiful butterfly. You're my beautiful butterfly. And no one will ever change that." he said hugging her.

"I love you daddy."

"I love you too, Hope. My sweet butterfly. I love you too."

Meque came outside, "Time for dinner you two."

"Mommy, daddy showed me a butterfly and now I'm a butterfly." said Hope.

"Yes, you are Hope. The prettiest butterfly ever." she said giving Hope a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, let's go eat. Butterflies need to eat so they can be big and strong when they get older." Mikey said picking up Hope.

"Yay, I'm gonna be a big butterfly daddy and be strong like you." she said making an arch with arm to show her tiny muscles.

"Oh she is just like you, Mikey." said Meque.

"I know." he laughed smiling as they walked into their house.

Life was great. They had hardships and troubles, but they always would stay strong as a family. They ate together, they would have family game night, and they even prayed together before they went to sleep.