HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROOKE

Happy Thanksgiving (or I guess since it's 1:12am happy belated Thanksgiving and now Brooke’s 5th birthday)!

I couldn't sleep last night just thinking about how thankful I am that Brooke is with us this Thanksgiving... How a year ago on this day Brooke was celebrating her 4th birthday... How everything was so normal and worry free and having no idea that this wicked beast was spreading throughout Brooke's tiny little body. My life will never be the same as it was last Thanksgiving. In spite of the pain & fear of this past year there are still so many blessings. I thought that I knew everything there was to know about Brooke but I had no idea how amazing she truly is. I honestly admire her more than any person I have ever met. Did you ever think you could meet a person that could find complete and utter joy in absolutely anything and everything? Someone who could find joy in having cancer, going through chemo, having their hair fall out, needing hearing aids and glasses? If you're blessed to know Brooke then you have. Brooke has never met a person she doesn't like...She does not see people by the color of their skin, their age, their abilities or disabilities, the clothes they wear, how rich or poor they are. She looks at the beauty in everything around her…she is mesmerized by the colors in the sky when the sun is setting…she thinks that every leaf on the ground is such a treasure and every broken seashell on the beach is worth holding onto. She learned the entire Lord’s Prayer at 3 years old (I didn’t think it was even possible but boy did she prove me wrong). She is always thinking of others -don’t get me wrong my little girl loves getting gifts! – but I can’t tell you how many times she has opened a present and said maybe we should give this to our hospital ER (PRMC) because the kids there don’t have toys to play with or someone gives her money and she says that she would like to donate it to her research fund (what 4 yr old says that? I guess for that matter -how many 4 yr olds have a research fund?)…Don’t be surprised if you are ever visiting her at our house and she won’t let you leave without taking something of hers with you (even something she treasures)! She prays every night from her heart…she prays for her friends at home and for specific kids at CHOP (some she has met once or twice and some she has only heard me talk about but she remembers each name and prays for them and their families), she prays for things like “Nana getting home safely” after she has come up to visit for a couple of hours, she prays for Asher (her buddy Greyson’s doggie that passed away last month), she still prays for Dr. Alvarado and his family since he passed away in August. She thinks about things so deeply and so honestly and with such wisdom. I hope that 20 years from today Brooke is looking back through all these journal entries and guestbook messages and knows how truly special and loved she is and always has been. God Bless you my sweet little girl!

And God bless my family & friends, church, community and all of the amazing people that He has brought into our lives this past year. I am so thankful for each and every one of you and I am so thankful for the wonderful, brilliant and caring doctors, nurses, and of course child life specialists at CHOP that are the reason Brooke loves being at CHOP so much.

Blessings to all,

Amy