Honoring Kaiden

When I was deciding who to honor as I shaved my head, I spent a night reading the stories of all the St Baldricks children who are from Massachusetts.  Immediately Kaiden's picture drew me in and I knew that I would be shaving in honor of little SUPERMAN.   What I did not know in those first few moments, was that Kaiden did not win his battle with cancer. He died on October 27, 2004, a mere 8 months after being diagnosed.  

Kaiden was just 8 months old when his parents suspected that something might be very wrong and their worst fears were confirmed when they found out he had an agressive brain tumor.  The following months were filled with surgeries, treatments and the hope that he could overcome this disease that was trying to take control of his little body.

As I read his story, I tried to imagine what it would have been like to have received that news when one of my children was 8 months old. 

I tried.  I just couldn't do it.

You see, when my babies were 8 months old, I spent my time teaching them how to wave bye bye.
I introduced them to new foods at dinner time.  I watched them crawl their way around the room.  I helped them stand at the coffee table and shared their pride and sense of accomplishment as their knees buckled and swayed.  I excelled at getting them to laugh and if I was really lucky, I could get that belly laugh going, the one that always tickled my funny bone.  I watched their eyebrows furrow as they heard "no no" for the first time.  The last thing I did every night was stand at the side of their crib making sure that their little chest was going up and down, signalling that they were still breathing. 

So as I sat reminiscing, I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for Kaiden's parents to watch their little boy fight as hard as he did.  And not only did they not get to enjoy all of those little moments that I just spent time remembering but they also lost the chance to see him grow from a boy to a man. 

I am shaving my head in honor of Kaiden.
In honor of Superman.