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Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After

Rediscovering Life after Retirement

Categories: Living Life, My Little Miracles

Relay for Life, 4.2017: Meet Angel Andrew

 

Relay for Life, 4.2017

Sweet friends,

Sharing a post originally written two years ago on April 26.  I will be participating in the Relay for Life in Northwest Harris County (Houston), Texas, this Saturday, April 22.  My sister Valerie and I will be walking in memory of her son, my nephew Andrew.  I would be honored if you would consider supporting our relay team with a small donation.  Click here to visit my Relay page.  Thank you.

Now let me introduce you to my angel baby Andrew.

andrew1

Good Wednesday morning, dear ones,

This little angel is my nephew Andrew.  I use the term angel here literally because Andrew is most certainly an angel in heaven these days.

This picture was taken when Andrew was just over a year old, shortly before we learned he had Wilm’s tumor, also called nephroblastoma or a tumor of the kidneys.

St. Jude Children’s Hospital describes Wilm’s this way:

…a solid cancerous tumor of the kidney that arises from immature kidney cells.” [source]  The article at stjude.org goes on to say that for most children, no clear cause for Wilm’s is known.  Children may have a familial or genetic predisposition for Wilm’s, or may develop the kidney tumor if they also have any one of three other syndromes.  One of those is Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, also called overgrowth syndrome where in some children, parts of their bodies grow abnormally large to a point where they have an uneven or asymmetric appearance. [source]

This was the case with Andrew.  My sister Valerie and her husband Roby began to notice that one of Andrew’s legs was growing faster and larger than the other.

At the time they were living in Plano, Texas.  Andrew’s pediatrician confirmed his parents’ concerns and referred them to Scottish Rite for a consultation.

A move to Houston and a few months later, Andrew was diagnosed with Wilm’s Tumor.

The outlook was encouraging, however, as the long-term cure rates for Wilm’s are excellent, at 85-90%, it seemed that if Andrew had to have cancer, this was the cancer to have.

Sadly, Andrew was one of the 10-15% who couldn’t be cured.

He died at the age of three, on Thanksgiving weekend, November 24, 2001.  My father, a cancer research scientist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, felt unique frustration about Andrew’s illness and death because my Dad had dedicated his entire life to finding a cure for cancer.  How ironic that disease would take his own grandson’s life.

I am grateful that we were all there with him that last day, my parents, my brother, my children and I.

And there for Valerie and Roby, and Andrew’s older brother, Trey.

For a long time I questioned why Andrew had to be taken from us.  Why his life was cut so short?  And while I still have questions, I have come to realize that through Andrew’s battle with and eventual death from cancer, our family has become stronger, closer and more spiritual.

We were always close as a family but we are even closer now.  And until Andrew became sick, I can safely say I didn’t know the importance of prayer.  My spiritual life was undefined and underdeveloped. But when a 3 year-old you love dearly is fighting for his very life, you learn how to pray with a vengeance.

Andrew loved Batman.  He loved the Toy Story characters, particularly Buzz Lightyear, and would often say “To infinity and beyond!” with his own toddler-ese spin to it.  How prophetic was that?

As the end of his life neared, Andrew just wanted to do some of the things he enjoyed doing before radiation and chemo became his normal way of life.  He wanted to go back to preschool, to play with friends, to be a typical little boy.

And so he did.

Andrew was granted a Make a Wish trip to Disney World early in the fall of 2001.  Our family was so grateful to the Make a Wish Foundation for giving Andrew an opportunity to meet all of his favorite super heroes and Disney characters in person.

andrew4

This picture was taken at preschool in October, a month before he died.

andrew3

Even then he already had wings.

Almost every year after his death, I would set up an altar in the library in Andrew’s memory for the Hispanic holiday Dia de los Muertos.  Celebrated on October 31-Novemeber 2, it is a poignant commemoration of the lives of those we have lost.  I will do a post in the future about all of the rich symbolism and tradition connected to Dia de los Muertos but one of the them is placing some of the deceased person’s favorite things on the altar.  For Andrew, I always had Batman and Buzz Lightyear figures, and an empty Chic-fil-a box (his favorite food).

andrew6

My sister, Valerie, has had a Relay for Life team almost every year since Andrew’s death.  Her team is appropriately named Andrew’s Superheroes.  The event is always held in May, right around Valerie’s birthday.  I have been fortunate enough to join my sister, Roby and Trey for the relay twice in the past and it has been an incredibly moving experience.

Here are some pictures from the 2013 and 2014 Relays.

andrew8

andrew9

It is almost May.  My sister’s Relay for Life event will be next weekend, along with her birthday. Kind of bittersweet.  I won’t be with Valerie in person this year but I will be there in spirit.  And in this last week before Saturday’s relay, I am scrambling to meet my goal of $300 as a member of Andrew’s Superheroes Relay Team.

If you would like to make a small donation to my team, maybe the price of a Happy Meal you would buy for one of your own healthy children, or for what you might pay for a  large designer coffee from Starbucks, you can do so by clicking here.   I have raised 80% of my goal.  With your help, I can get to 100% or beyond!

And please, could I ask you to say a little prayer for all of those babies fighting cancer today.

Fighting for their very lives.

andrew10

Thank you, my friends.

Valerie, you are my super hero.  I love you.  I love you, too, angel Andrew and I will see you again one day.

andrew11

Thank you, dear friends for your support.  Please think a good thought for us as we walk for Relay.  May this year be THE year a cure for cancer is discovered.

I am linking up today with the great gals who coordinate the Over the Moon link party.  Hope you will use the link to stop by to see what’s new with Sue, Sandy, Shelley, Bev, Melissa and Marilyn.  Lots of goodness going on with this great gals.

Thank you for stopping by.

Hugs and kisses,

leslie

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About Leslie Roberts Clingan

I am an aspiring blogger and children's author, wife, mother, daughter, sister, - in-law, responsible pet owner and recently retired elementary school librarian. I hope to figure out the next chapter of my life as I transition from crazy, busy work world onto totally idle retirement and now to something in-between.

Comments

  1. Sheila DelCharco

    April 19, 2017 at 8:12 am

    Dear friend, I am honored to support your fundraising goals! xoxo

    Reply
    • Leslie Roberts Clingan

      April 19, 2017 at 8:31 am

      Your love and generosity warm my heart. Thank you, Sheila. Thank you so much.

      Reply
  2. curlycraftymom

    April 19, 2017 at 11:42 am

    Oh gosh, you have me in tears! What a sad story, this is why it is so important to have fundraisers, etc. to raise money for more research and to find a cure to this horrible disease and all of cancer! There is a half marathon for St. Jude’s that I’ve thought about running, a lot of the people in my running group run it and also raise money for it. I am so glad he was able to go to Disney! And, yes, prayer is so important and helpful!

    Carrie
    curlycraftymom.com

    Reply
    • curlycraftymom

      April 19, 2017 at 11:46 am

      I just put in a small donation 🙂 Hope it helps you meet your goal! 🙂

      Carrie
      curlycraftymom.com

      Reply
      • Leslie Roberts Clingan

        April 24, 2017 at 6:26 am

        Thank you so much for always being in my corner with support, in one form or another. XO

        Reply
    • Leslie Roberts Clingan

      April 24, 2017 at 6:27 am

      I am looking for my next 5K. Wish there was one for St. Jude here. Thank you for your sweet message.

      Reply
  3. Andrea

    April 19, 2017 at 3:48 pm

    Oh, Leslie, what a sad story. But I’m so glad that you are keeping Andrew’s memory alive and are raising money to find a cure at the same time. I made a small donation.

    My oldest sister died of Leukemia when she was 3, several years before I was born. My parents have a really hard time talking about her to this day. Looking back, I wish we had done things as a family in her honor, other than going to the cemetery (where we really never talked).

    A friend of mine was just diagnosed with Lymphoma, and it doesn’t look good. He is in his late 40s and has two young children.

    Cancer is a disease that takes so many far too soon…

    Reply
    • Leslie Roberts Clingan

      April 24, 2017 at 6:25 am

      Oh, Andrea! You know only too well how horrific a diagnosis of cancer can be. But thank goodness more and more, it is becoming a life sentence and not a death sentence. And we are finding ways to live with cancer. Thank you so much for your support.

      Will be praying for your friend. So very sad. And so very sad that your family knows first hand the sorrow of losing a little one. XO

      Reply
  4. Melissa Ruddy

    April 21, 2017 at 11:42 am

    This is so heartbreaking. I am sorry for your loss and inspired by what you are doing.

    Reply
    • Leslie Roberts Clingan

      April 25, 2017 at 7:41 pm

      Thank you so much for taking time to stop by. We miss Andrew every single day but know he is watching over us.

      Reply
  5. Shelly

    April 21, 2017 at 8:27 pm

    Cancer is such a beast. So sorry for your families loss!

    Reply
    • Leslie Roberts Clingan

      April 24, 2017 at 6:22 am

      Thank you, sweet Shelly. And thank you for the support. XO

      Reply

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In what felt like the blink of an eye, I have gone from full-time wife to my sweet husband, hands-on mom to my two beautiful daughters and elementary school librarian to a retired, empty nester with lots of time on my hands. Join me on my journey to rediscover who I am. Glad you are here...
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