Let Us Be Thankful

I have had a heavy heart this week. The sweet, little two year old boy that I have blogged about recently, Ezra, passed away on Monday after battling a ferocious cancer beast, Neuroblastoma. A friend in Tampa brought his story to the surface for me and it amazes me daily that a child that I did not even know would captivate my attention so. His story reached thousands of people from all over the world, taking us through the motions with his parents and loved ones of love, hope, joy and loss. I read Kyle's posts, each update I received, and you could certainly tell the amount of love they felt for each other and their children, but also the amount of pain and frustration they were feeling. He has such a way of writing, so transparent, that you can almost visualize being in the hospital room with them and feeling whatever they are feeling. He writes about the alarm monitors going off to alert them of Ezra's heart rate slowing, so they climbed into bed with him and held him, kissed him, hugged him and told them they loved him as he drifted off into Heaven. They laid with him a while, then got up, packed their things and left the hospital without their son for the second time this year. They witnessed him being brought into this world and unfortunately, witnessed him leaving also. No parent should ever have to bury their child, but especially not two in the same year (the Matthews family also lost one of their newborn twins a week after birth in March). It saddens me that a child so young, with so much life to live was taken too soon. I am sure it touches me also because my two children are the same ages of their boys. Ezra has touched more people and changed more people than a grown person may ever do in their entire lifetime. We are all better for knowing his story and knowing him - if only through reading his parents' blog. If you want to read their story, you can do so by going to http://thematthewsstory.com or by clicking on the link to the right of the page. You can also donate to them by visiting their blog.

So, let us all be thankful for everything we have, every person we know. I know I am. I am thankful for a wonderful, loving husband, family and my two healthy, happy children that are full of life that I get to see to see their smiling faces everyday that I am alive.