September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
I know there are lots of great causes to care about in 2020, but St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is near and dear to my heart.
In May 2009, our oldest son was six months and diagnosed with a Glioma Astrocytoma brain tumor. Over the course of a weekend, we went from being new parents with nothing but optimism for our family, to new parents being told that our baby was facing impossible odds.
Through the work and dedication of his medical team at St. Jude, last week Josiah started 5th grade. His life has been difficult. He underwent chemotherapy as a baby. He has seizures. He has limited use of his left side and he struggles with his speech.
But he is here, and that is all I care about. The other challenges are all things we can work on.
For the last several years, the Apple community has rallied around this cause every fall, raising money for St. Jude, which treats its patients without charging their families a single dime.
That’s incredible, and it’s only possible because of donors like me and you.
Last year, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Josiah’s diagnosis. He’s no longer a cancer patient — he is a survivor. We wanted to mark the date in a permanent way, so my wife and I had a brick placed in his honor on campus at St. Jude.
I thought for a long time about what to have written on it, but I couldn’t have been happier when I saw it for the first time:
It reads:
In Honor of 10 Years at St. Jude, Finding Hope and Healing for Josiah and Friends.
It was important for us to include our community in this celebration, and that includes all of you.
