Dear Empire State Building, Part 12

Dear Empire State Building,

 
When I was younger, I thought all kids got to grow up. Of course I eventually figured out that kids do indeed die too, but only from accidents, right? When I was old enough to realize what cancer was, I thought only adults got it and maybe one or two kids a year. I knew of St. Jude’s and I thought that the kids in there were the only kids in the world to have cancer. One hospital full of kids? Not so bad. Of course it was terrible that those kids had cancer, but they all lived, right? That’s what I thought. I thought the only cancer kids could get was leukemia. Sure, they lost their hair, but hair grows back.

Personally, I have never been affected by cancer. I don’t know anyone who has cancer and I don’t personally know anyone who has ever died of cancer. I remember the first time I really found out about childhood cancer. It started with a little boy I have never met who lives thousands of miles away. His name is Ronan. When I found out about him, it was too late. Still, I read his moms blog from the very beginning and still read it today. What I learned from that blog is how terrible kids cancer is. Everything that little boy went through was so cruel, and for what? He died three days before his 4th birthday after 9 months of fighting for his life. I remember reading the blog posts from around the time he died and I was absolutely devastated. I never knew what it was like to hold his little hand, hear his sweet voice, or look into his precious eyes, but it changed who I am. After Ronan, I started to learn of other kids who had cancer and went through the same thing and many who have cancer still. I learned about all the different types of cancers and how many have terrible survival rates as low as 0%. Yes 0%. Can you imagine? Imagine a doctor telling you your child’s headaches are from a brain tumor and that there isn’t anything they can do. Imagine your child dying two months later. That’s the reality of childhood cancer.

Because of Ronan I am aware. Because of Ty, Ezra, Ava, Ryan, Sam, Gage, Jace, Mason, Luke, Thomas, Lilly, Bella, Achilleus, Emma, Talia, Robyn, Sammy, Cannon, Ollie, Max, Lacey, Mac, Nathan, Josh, Caden, Kicker, Dax, Hayden, Shay, Bethany, Gabriella, William, and so so many more, I am aware.

Most of the kids I just mentioned were once apart of 7 children that die EVERYDAY in the US alone. All of their parents were once told “There is nothing more we can do.” Why? Because there isn’t enough funding for research. Why? Because there isn’t enough AWARENESS. Awareness matters. That is why we are asking you, Empire State Building, to go gold. It really does matter and it isn’t something silly to be denied. With more awareness, kids won’t have to die from cancer.

Empire State Building, and whoever else may read this, YOU can do something to help these kids. Please do it.

Sincerely,
Emily