Ingram the Conqueror: Sunday and Monday February 2nd and 3rd, Contrasts

Sunday after church Ingram went to a birthday party for his friend Harrison who turned 4. It was a lot of fun with his preschool friends and they jumped in a bouncy house, played basketball, raced on scooters, and made superhero masks. Ingram had a blast and played even more once we got home with the girls and their friends outside. We continued to have a great family day with the kids and watched the Super Bowl with them before they went to bed. We really just had a great Sunday.

And then Monday came. Monday morning we learned that our sweet friends from St. Jude, the McClure family, had a totally different Sunday than we did. Ashlynn had fought hard against cancer for over a year and she always had a smile on her face even with tumors invading her body and making her sick, but it was just too much for her 2 year old body to handle anymore. We met Heather, Russ, Kyleigh, and Ashlynn while we were all doing Radiation this summer. We even ran into them in the Orlando airport when we were both coming and going on our Make-A-Wish trips to Disney. Ashlynn now has a perfect body with no tumors and has no pain, but her family has broken hearts. Pray for the McClure family, and their friends, as they go through what no one should, especially their daughter Kyleigh who is only Kindergarten.

This afternoon one of our new friends, the Bell family, found out that their son's tumor has "exploded" in size since their January 11th MRI and that chemo and surgery are no longer options. His nickname is "Aaron the Amazing" and he has been battling our same Ependymoma for over 6 years. We had the privilege to meet Aaron and his parents, Chris and Kristie, last week at St. Jude. Please pray for the Aaron, Kristie, and Chris as they process the news they received today.

Tonight, Craig and Ingram were invited to speak at the Warriors Center by one of our friends. The Warriors Center provides hope and healing through faith-based recovery programs. The center reaches out to men and women battling substance abuse, homelessness or other life controlling problems. Craig and I had planned on being at the Warriors Center Dinner on April 3rd of last year with the same friends. However, two hours before we were supposed to be there, we found out that Ingram had a tumor on his brain. They spoke to about 60 men who were going through the program and really enjoyed their time there. The men, mostly just out of prison, homeless, and fighting addictions, talked to Ingram and found out he liked McDonald's. Several of them gave Ingram money so that he could go to McDonald's a few times and get happy meals. The same men just out of prison, homeless, and fighting addictions, also gave Ingram some of their snacks and candy because they wanted to share what they had with him. Others wanted to pray with him and tell him to keep fighting. Honestly, I'm not sure who got more out of tonight, the Warriors Center men or my own men. When Ingram got home, he told me that they talked to the men tonight and "I told them one thing and Daddy told them lots of things." I didn't have to ask what he told them; but, I did anyway and Ingram yelled "Get Your Move On!" as loud as he could in our kitchen and laughed. Craig was laughing too and said that before they left Ingram came in the bedroom while he was getting dressed to see what shoes he was going wear. Apparently Craig had to change shoes because Ingram told him he wanted him to wear "the same kind of shoes I have on" so their shoes would match. Despite how bad our days can be, God gave Ingram the ability to make us smile at the end of every day regardless of everything else.