2017 Finale Video

Friday, October 21, 2011

Images of Hope

When you imagine something, you are creating images in your own mind of what might be close to reality, for example, when you imagine a hospital you think of people in hospital rooms on beds getting ready to go into surgery or coming in from the emergency room. What you don't imagine when you let your imagination run wild is the reality that you have never seen until you get there. You may have been to a hospital to welcome a newborn into the world and to congratulate the parents and help them in the recovery process but usually that is where it ends when you think of kids in the hospital. No one imagines what I have seen while I have been in the hospital with my son. You won't let it go that far. It is to painful to bear the thought of kids hooked up to feeding tubes, accessed to ports with bags of medication hanging off of their drip trees as they walk around the halls. No one imagines a playroom in a hospital because kids aren't supposed to be there for that long. No one imagines school taking place for kids who cannot leave because they never know when they will get sick to their stomach from the powerful chemotherapy. And no one imagines a button that will administer morphine to a child constantly in pain. This is the world we live in, an unimaginable world of pain and misery kept behind locked doors in the oncology units for kids.


No child should have to Imagine the world we live in because they have spent most of their lives in the hospital, but you who have lived such a comfortable life should open your eyes and your heart and quit imagining a world without this kind of suffering because it is real. Make an adult decision today to quit letting your imagination get the best of you, and realize you can help kids across the nation and in your own city. Here are a few things to stop thinking about and start doing. Donate blood, it's easy quick and can save lives. Become a volunteer at a hospital, it's time well spent that you won't regret. Spread the word about childhood cancer, there are limitless and creative ideas to do this with. Consider becoming a bone marrow donor, I know I am. Stop complaining and jumping on the bandwagon, I know there are other causes out there but complaining just allows you to feel better, when the alternative of pressing forward with your cause is far more productive. Donate money, you do this every day for many other things and people who don't even care about you, but these children care and if it was your child you know you would be asking.

Now imagine a Cure, imagine no more hospital stays, imagine kids becoming people who will use their story of hope for good in their adult lives because somebody gave unconditionally to save their lives. Now that you have created this image in your mind, make a choice, take action and even lead the way for others. One day soon the images that we dream about will come true, our kids will come home and we can all enjoy holidays and birthdays together again.
 

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