Today marks the end of September and the end of Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Please don’t let your awareness end today. Children are dying every day. Our son, Joey, will never meet his big sister here on earth. Sarah and I believe that Ella visits him and we will constantly keep her in our lives. Joey will know of his sister because we will tell him about her. Joey has an Angel and a Saint looking out for him, this is true, but Joey will not have a big sister to help him if he gets picked on at school. Sarah will never be able to take Ella with her to get her hair and nails done. I will never get to go to a Daddy/Daughter dance with Ella. This is our heartbreaking reality and the reality of many other families. I’m not asking for pity, I’m just angry. I’m not angry at God, but just at the lack of awareness. So much awareness is given to causes like breast cancer, but what about the girls that never get a chance to grow up to have them? We need to be their voice and advocate for our children. If you feel inclined to donate, please choose charities that matter like Supporting Kids Foundation, Connor’s Mission, Noah’s Bandage Project, Braden’s Hope, and St. Baldrick’s. Want to go a step further? Great! How about signing up to be a bone marrow donor. Through Be The Match (www.bethematch.org), you will swab the inside of your mouth (that’s it!) and you may be contacted to help save someone’s life. Bone marrow can be donated through an IV in your arm, rarely is it taken through big needles in your pelvis anymore. How about donating blood? People across the nation need this dearly to save their lives. Ella received more blood than I’d like to talk about and we are grateful for all donors. Big things, little things, it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you take action. Get angry that our children are dying and many don’t have a proven cure (Ella didn’t). Get angry and please do something positive about it. Maybe even just talk about a child like Saint Ella and how she changed lives, but we wish she was still here to change more. If you see a bald child or one that has gained weight due to steroids, please don’t stare….please smile, say hello, and tell them how beautiful/handsome they are. God bless! Saint Ella, pray for us! 
Monthly Archives: September 2016
September 14, 2016
Saint Ella, pray for us!!! Today marks the 1 year anniversary of Ella’s passing. It is also the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Cross of Jesus is the symbol of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice. During Joey’s Baptism a few weeks back, I listened to Father Murphy and PJ Ludwikoski’s conversation about Christ’s crucifixion. They were talking about what Jesus would say while he was up on the Cross. We could ask Him how He is doing and Jesus would most likely have said, “I’m doing great!” Can you imagine that? Being crucified even though He was innocent, and He died willingly and the most painful death, but all the while He’d say that He was great. Wow! Ella died one year ago and it has been very hard, but Sarah and I try to focus on God. God gave us Ella and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. God also gave us Joey, Ella’s little brother. We just know that Ella visits him. Joey will crane his neck to look at Ella’s picture on the wall. Joey’s picture is right below it, but he only looks at Ella. Joey also shares a lot of the same quirks as Ella and we feel that Ella is teaching him everything that she knows. Saint Ella is always with us and we hold this dear to our hearts. We miss her more than I can express. We miss everything about Ella. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. You know our reality. We need to help all of the other kids and families touched by this nasty disease. No parent should live our reality. These kids need a chance to go to school, play sports, graduate school, go to school dances, get married, etc. Sarah and I won’t get the luxury of watching Ella do these things. Please continue to raise awareness for the children touched by cancer.
If you live in the Detroit area, please go to California Pizza Kitchen at Partridge Creek today. Connor’s Mission (run by Drew and Diana Nicol) is hosting a fundraiser in honor of Ella and money raised will benefit children touched by cancer. Please eat some pizza today!
Thank you, everyone, for your beautiful thoughts and prayers. God Bless! Saint Ella, pray for us!
“And when a sickness takes my child away, and there’s nothing I can do.
My only hope is to trust You, I trust you Lord.
In the eye of the storm, You remain in control.
In the middle of the war, You guard my soul.
You alone are the anchor, when my sails are torn.
Your love surrounds me, in the eye of the storm.” – Ryan Stevenson, “Eye of the Storm”
I absolutely love this video. It shows Ella’s sense of humor so well. She’s trying to get to my ear to say, “Psssssst.” Love that girl!!!
Positively Ella 