I'll never forget

I'll never forget the week or so prior to Arley being diagnosed with cancer. I was probably on Facebook or checking out some other newsworthy site when I stumbled across the story of Savannah and the #StolenMoments campaign her dad created. Aside from raising money for a wonderful cause, the original story simply stated that he wanted others to share their 'Stolen Moments' with their children. Let them stay up late on a weeknight, have ice cream for breakfast, or literally stop and smell the roses. 

I don't recall how soon after reading that story that I took Arley out to enjoy our own stolen moment (as shown above at the Daffodil field), but I know it was rather quickly. I wish I still had the blog entry I wrote to accompany our stolen moment adventure, but I deleted that blog when this one took priority, and I can't even tell you what made me think of it just now and gave me the urge to blog about it. 

You will notice though, if you zoom in on Arley's photo that the tumor can be seen clear as day and according to Facebook this photo was taken April 19th and Arley was diagnosed six days later....

I do remember thinking though how heartbreaking it was to hear that a child lost their life over something that is almost completely unknown. How ironic it would be to learn almost a week later that Arley would be effected by a very rare cancer that the cause too is also unknown. 

The whole thing has recently got me thinking of what all I can do to help other families going through what we are. I have an idea that's been rolling around in my head, but I am not exactly sure how to go about executing it as my resources are very limited, but I hope to one day be able to do something similar along the lines of Savannah's dad and be able to pay things forward to other families who are struggling. 

With all this being said, I hope that tonight you will hold your child(ren) a little tighter, kiss them a little longer, and allow them to share in a 'Stolen Moment' whatever that may be.....