The Luckiest

I am the luckiest.

I have a family who stands beside me, backs me up and cheers me on. I have a rock solid relationship with my rock solid husband Mark. I have friends who encircle and enrich me. I have a strong and healthy and able body, despite having had type 1 diabetes for twenty-three years. I have enough money for everything I need and most of what I want. And I have two little boys, Braedan and Austin, who fill me with delight and wonder every single day.

But Austin is not the luckiest. Diagnosed with bilateral Wilms’ tumor, cancer in both kidneys, in July 2007 when he was just ten months old, Austin has been forced to endure more horrors in his short life than most of us ever will. But he is a survivor. After eight months of treatment, he has been in remission since March 2008.

The months, and now years, following his diagnosis have taught us a lot … about fear, hope and strength, about each other, ourselves and our boys, about life, luck and love.

And I’m ready to share.