Missing You: Eleven in Heaven
Category: Life
Another May 26th has arrived, the fourth one without the Birthday Boy here to celebrate it with his family. Darrel should have being turning 11 today, but the that was not meant to be. As his sisters continue to grow and mature, it is impossible not to to try and imagine Darrel with them, and what things could and should have been like. With all that happens to Kira and Lauren each and every day, how would things have been different if their younger brother was with them at school, on the bus, or during the anythings and everythings that will make up their lives.
Birthdays of young children are suppose to be about the promise of what the future may hold for them: their hopes; their dreams; their fears; and the magic and mystery of the years ahead. For Darrel, and so many others touched by childhood cancer, birthdays are a time of reflection and remembrance. Recalling those times are both a blessing and a curse to me, now and for always. Many say you have to take the Good with the Bad, but what good is there is watching your
7 year old son take his last breath? Where is the silver-lining in that dark cloud that still hovers over our home?? These are questions, like so many of the other "what ifs" surrounding Darrel's journey, that will never have answers that make any sense or give me complete peace of mind.
In other related stories, since my last blog, there have been a few developments involving the Playground. First off, earlier this month Facebook began the process of reformating the structure of all its Group pages. After Darrel's Playground flipped over, all this previous
Blogs/Notes/Discussion Board topics were lost! This was both unexpected and unnerving to me, as well as countless others who had their groups information removed and/altered without any prior warning. While I do have these backed up elsewhere, it is going to take some time to restore 6 years worth of entries to the site. I still don't know how/when I'm going to go about doing that, but they were a major component to this Group, and the needs to be resolved in the near future.
This coming Saturday, May 28th, I'll be taking part in The 10th Annual Mitchell Fraser Memorial Slo-Pitch Tournament in Solina, Ontario. Money raised will go to the James Fund for
Neuroblastoma Research at SickKids. We've been invited to several James Fund events in the past, including Darrel's SickKids's buddy Kyle's annual Family Day Skate, but for various reasons, have been unable to attend. I've chatted with many of these parents a great deal over the years
on Facebook, but have yet to actually meet them face to face. Hope the weather co-opeartes, and all involved have a great day!!
On June 17-18th, Team Darrel will be participating in our fourth Relay For Life here in Fergus! I set the team fundraising goal at $1,500 this year, and with 3 weeks to go, we should have no
problem achieving this amount (currently at $730). The Fergus event already has more teams
signed up than last year, and has collected over $18,000 thus far. Anyone wanting to pledge our team can contact one of us directly, or do so online at:
http://convio.cancer.ca/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFL_ON_odd_?px=1675869&pg=personal&fr_id=8735
In closing, I'd like to thank everyone who is still part of this group! As I mentioned, the Facebook switch-over did not go over very smoothly, and several people left the Playground before the automatic spamming issues were properly addressed. I try to keep things on here current, without being too aggressive or pushy, but sometimes people think otherwise. This is unforunate,
but it is also a part of life. Raising Awareness is a large part of what this page has evolved into, and that does require some contact between us from time to time.
Thanks Again for being part of this community, and allowing me to share Darrel with you all.
The Apple Juice is Chillin' in the Fridge, the Ring Pops are in the Cupboard, and The Flintstones are secure.
Happy Birthday Little Man!!
P.S. If you haven't already watched it, here is a link to the Tribute Video my friend Debbie
Tompkins made in honour of Darrel's Birthday.
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=e02e8cc60dc06eedf2204f&skin_id=1901&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url
Category: Life
Another May 26th has arrived, the fourth one without the Birthday Boy here to celebrate it with his family. Darrel should have being turning 11 today, but the that was not meant to be. As his sisters continue to grow and mature, it is impossible not to to try and imagine Darrel with them, and what things could and should have been like. With all that happens to Kira and Lauren each and every day, how would things have been different if their younger brother was with them at school, on the bus, or during the anythings and everythings that will make up their lives.
Birthdays of young children are suppose to be about the promise of what the future may hold for them: their hopes; their dreams; their fears; and the magic and mystery of the years ahead. For Darrel, and so many others touched by childhood cancer, birthdays are a time of reflection and remembrance. Recalling those times are both a blessing and a curse to me, now and for always. Many say you have to take the Good with the Bad, but what good is there is watching your
7 year old son take his last breath? Where is the silver-lining in that dark cloud that still hovers over our home?? These are questions, like so many of the other "what ifs" surrounding Darrel's journey, that will never have answers that make any sense or give me complete peace of mind.
In other related stories, since my last blog, there have been a few developments involving the Playground. First off, earlier this month Facebook began the process of reformating the structure of all its Group pages. After Darrel's Playground flipped over, all this previous
Blogs/Notes/Discussion Board topics were lost! This was both unexpected and unnerving to me, as well as countless others who had their groups information removed and/altered without any prior warning. While I do have these backed up elsewhere, it is going to take some time to restore 6 years worth of entries to the site. I still don't know how/when I'm going to go about doing that, but they were a major component to this Group, and the needs to be resolved in the near future.
This coming Saturday, May 28th, I'll be taking part in The 10th Annual Mitchell Fraser Memorial Slo-Pitch Tournament in Solina, Ontario. Money raised will go to the James Fund for
Neuroblastoma Research at SickKids. We've been invited to several James Fund events in the past, including Darrel's SickKids's buddy Kyle's annual Family Day Skate, but for various reasons, have been unable to attend. I've chatted with many of these parents a great deal over the years
on Facebook, but have yet to actually meet them face to face. Hope the weather co-opeartes, and all involved have a great day!!
On June 17-18th, Team Darrel will be participating in our fourth Relay For Life here in Fergus! I set the team fundraising goal at $1,500 this year, and with 3 weeks to go, we should have no
problem achieving this amount (currently at $730). The Fergus event already has more teams
signed up than last year, and has collected over $18,000 thus far. Anyone wanting to pledge our team can contact one of us directly, or do so online at:
http://convio.cancer.ca/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFL_ON_odd_?px=1675869&pg=personal&fr_id=8735
In closing, I'd like to thank everyone who is still part of this group! As I mentioned, the Facebook switch-over did not go over very smoothly, and several people left the Playground before the automatic spamming issues were properly addressed. I try to keep things on here current, without being too aggressive or pushy, but sometimes people think otherwise. This is unforunate,
but it is also a part of life. Raising Awareness is a large part of what this page has evolved into, and that does require some contact between us from time to time.
Thanks Again for being part of this community, and allowing me to share Darrel with you all.
The Apple Juice is Chillin' in the Fridge, the Ring Pops are in the Cupboard, and The Flintstones are secure.
Happy Birthday Little Man!!
P.S. If you haven't already watched it, here is a link to the Tribute Video my friend Debbie
Tompkins made in honour of Darrel's Birthday.
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=e02e8cc60dc06eedf2204f&skin_id=1901&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url
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