The Boy With the Cobalt Hair

So this blog is different. This summer has been a different kind of Movin’ Right Along,  and I have struggled to put into words all the things in my mind (which is so connected to my heart—herein lies my struggle). But I had to write something, so…here we go. Inspired by a recent trip to VA to see an old and dear friend and her mighty boy…I wish I could wrap them in all the love and support and make the horrors they are facing go away.  I can’t. I know this. But if even one word here can encourage more folks to support this family through prayer, good thoughts, donations, happy mail, whatever, that is a tiny light in a very deep darkness.

This kid is really, really special; we love you, mighty Levi.

Peace. --k




The Boy with the Cobalt Hair

--my favorite color!--

Smiles,

Snoogles his kitten,

“His name is Flash” he says,

As kitten leaps

And bounces and springs and pounces,

Climbs the curtains!

Topples a shelf!

All claws and cuteness

A Flash of motion!


The boy with the cobalt hair

Laughs

At kitten’s antics

At silly videos

At stepdad’s fun--

Quiet joy sprouts everywhere and anywhere

Defying pain.


The boy with the cobalt hair

Loves

With gentle, unwavering trust,

His momma, her hair in cobalt, too, to match her mighty boy.

Her strength his strength, her love his love—

Reflecting each other

Bright and pure.

A bond that at first sight

Shines as eternal.


The boy with the cobalt hair

Battles

In quiet strength, in stoic silence

The cancer beast within;

Monsters that terrify and baffle

Insidious and perplexing--

“Just don’t worry about it,” he says

His gentle drawl speaks out his courage

When momma asks how can she be more like him--

His transcendence – supernatural?


The boy with the cobalt hair

Eats pizza!

Plays at the arcade!

Wins tickets!

Picks his prize!-- a blow up hammer—to bop his stepdad or his dogs

With gentle humor.


The boy with the cobalt hair

LIVES.

Unbound by diagnoses, 
anchored in 
his momma's love,

Freed from fear by her tireless care.

(He is the apple fallen near his momma’s tree,

her love his lifeblood,

Though she protests,

his strength reflects her own).


The boy with the cobalt hair

Knows he is loved.

This confidence shines true,

Beyond the cobalt hair,

Beyond the creeping signs of illness,

Beyond the quiet hugs we mommas share, 
our tears shed out of sight.


The boy with the cobalt hair

Teaches

That gentle goodness and purity of soul

Are NOT extinct,

That love gives strength to walk whatever road.

Stay close to those who love you,

those you love,

And you will overcome the darkness.

Momma Melina, Mighty Levi, Flash the Kitten, G & Me 

(I am not really an Amazon, just playing one in this pic??)

 To learn more about how you can support mighty Levi and his family, please visit Operation Love for Levi or Levi’s Superfriends on Facebook.  Please pray for our dear friends as they travel this very difficult road.

Circle the Wagons

So I am going to lay some truth on you. 

Some days are way not zen.

Some days are the anti-zen.

Some days are all “then in despair I hung my head, ‘there is no peace on earth’, I said”.

Even on days where I use every single tool in my Toolbox o’ Zen, there are catastrophic moments that leave me gasping for air and wondering which end is up.

These are the days where I am reminded of the power of community, probably the greatest lesson I have learned over the last 14 years, just after “Dang, My Kid is Mightier than All Mightiness” and “If a Doctor Comes to Find You In a Playroom, You Are In Big Trouble”.  In the darkest moments of G’s illness, the prayers of others, the food brought by people, the information shared by those a few steps further along in the trenches—these things carried me, carried my family.

This week has been one of those weeks for a dear, dear friend, one of those weeks of gut-punching devastation. 

The one peril of the power of community is the reality that we share each other’s heartache—but in this connection comes wholehearted living, and I would not trade it for all the zen in the world. It is in loving others and caring and working to help each other that devastating moments become survivable, if not exactly bearable. Even with the grief and pain of this connection—the love is so much more powerful.

As my dear friend received a devastating new diagnosis for her son, a young man diagnosed with brain cancer two days after my G, our community heard the call to rally—a community built of cancer mommas and good friends and chosen family. We are circling the wagons around Melina. Granted, that reference is derived from Wild Bill’s travelling Wild West shows (and then Hollywood), not so much history—but the idea of circling around those we love, those who are hurting, is a powerful one. We can’t fix things. We can’t make it better. We can only do those peripheral things like pray and feed and share info and maybe send ill-advised stuffed animals (I am trying not to, but…Must. Send. Something. Soft and Nice!). But we can do it in a circle of love and support and solidarity.

This is not what I planned to blog about today—especially since yesterday was supposed to be blog day—but wagons don’t circle themselves. I guess in Beauty and the Beast they might, but that would be creepy. But this is what needs to be said today.

Please join our circle of support. Please, in this month of childhood cancer awareness, help us love, support, and protect a mama who has been relentless in her love for her mighty boy. After 14 years, to have this moment—she needs our love more than ever.

We love you, Melina, and Kayleigh, and super Levi. Know that there is a circle surrounding you. 

Please join us on Operation Love for Levi on facebook; please pray/meditate/dance by the light of the moon for this family; if you would like to financially help the family directly (ie without the fees GoFundMe takes), use the Venmo app to send money straight to loveforlevi (with Melina McAlwee as the contact). 

And really. Let’s circle the wagons and find some cures for childhood cancer already. 

#loveforlevi