Touched

A little over a week ago, on my way home from work, I get a somewhat frantic call from my dad. Of course my 1st thought is that something has happened while they are on their cruise. My dad asks me if a woman has gotten ahold of me about her son wanting to see Caroline. Huh? While they were on their cruise they got a call from a woman whose son went to school with Caroline a few years ago. He had been diagnosed with Leukemia and wanted to see Caroline. I was floored. I was frantic to find out who this was.

I checked my messages, and sure enough there was a message. I called her immediately. We quickly filled in the blanks about each other and our children, and we both knew we had never actually met. I knew immediately who her son was, and she knew Caroline. How odd that in the almost 2 years our children were in preschool together we never met, but not really. In this day and time with parents running to and from, working and getting kids, it's not surprising that we were on different schedules. What she told me broke my heart and touched my very soul.

Ryan had been diagnosed in March 2008 with Leukemia, and had been in and out of the hospital since then. He had been asking to see Caroline this whole time. When they were in school together they were "boyfriend and girlfriend", and I used to give Ryan hugs daily. Ryan's mom {Ashley} told me how he would wake up at night and ask for Caroline, and she would tell him she was sorry that she didn't know where to find her. Ryan would then tell her that when he turned 18 he was going to find Caroline and marry her. How precious is that?

I quickly found out they were in Temple, not far from here, and told her that I would love to bring Caroline to see him. Since we were leaving for our cruise in 2 days, we decided that we would drop everything right then and there and drive to see them. I picked Tab up, crying as I retold the story, and we drove to pick Caroline up from school. I knew Caroline would know who Ryan was, she still talked about him quite frequently. So when I got her, I asked if she wanted to go see her friend Ryan? She quickly corrected me and said ,"you mean my boyfriend Ryan from Parkview"? I said yes, and she was so excited she couldn't contain herself.

Next was the hard part y'all. How do you tell your little innocent child about this horrible disease hurting their friend? I simply told her that Ryan was very sick with Leukemia, and was in the hospital and wanted to play with her. She barely has time to take a breath before she says, that she bets the money she gave to Pennies for Patients went to Ryan because its for kids with Leukemia. If you missed the post about Pennies for Patients you can read it here.

When we got to the hospital, Ryan was getting a CAT scan, but the nurses knew just who we were! They told us that Caroline was all Ryan talked about! They took us to his room to wait. A few minutes later we heard Ryan call Caroline's name from the hallway as he was being wheeled back. I have never seen so much joy in 2 children's faces as I did when they saw each other.





They played and colored together for 2 hours that night. It was such a joy to be a part of that sweet innocence. I'm not sure I have ever been so touched in my life. To know that somehow my precious little girl was so important to this precious little boy. I am deeply touched and deeply honored to have been there when his spirits were down. I will write more about Ryan and his condition soon, with links to a site for him. Until then, please pray for this sweet boy and his family.


Alicia