A Child's Laughter
Wouldn't it be nice to see life through the eyes of our children? My sons and I were speaking about the Hunter's Hope Gala at the Buffalo Bills Fieldhouse. I am honored to be signing copies of House of Miracles at the event, and my boys were real curious as to why I wrote two books about The Women & Children's Hospital of Buffalo and why Hunter's Mom, Jill Kelly wrote the foreword to the book.
I explained that I was real thankful that we had a child who received fantastic care and was able to run and jump and throw and kick field goals. Jake, who suffered through the tumor removal, still didn't quite understand all of it. "Who would want to read about that?" he asked. "It wasn't that I was lucky."
"You were very lucky," I said. "There are a lot of kids who get sick. There are a lot of people who work hard to care for them. This book is about those smart people."
Sam, who is just seven-years-old, doesn't ever miss a trick. "I was thinking about Hunter," he said. "His Mom and Dad must really miss him."
"They do," I said. "But they have this big party to celebrate his life. They try real hard so that other families don't have kids who get sick like Hunter."
"They're always going to remember Hunter," Sam said.
"We're all going to remember him," Jake answered. "I'm going to think of him when I'm playing."
I brought my boys close and gave them a hug. I knew that they didn't grasp all of it, but their simplistic, beautiful look at the life of Hunter Kelly was heart-warming on a lot of levels.
"When you get done signing books will you race mom through the obstacle course again?"
"Certainly," I answered.
"Will you fall on your face like you did last year?" Sam reminded.
"Maybe," I said.
"I bet if Hunter was looking down from heaven, he was laughing at you," Jake said.
"That's okay," I said. "God really likes it when children laugh."
I explained that I was real thankful that we had a child who received fantastic care and was able to run and jump and throw and kick field goals. Jake, who suffered through the tumor removal, still didn't quite understand all of it. "Who would want to read about that?" he asked. "It wasn't that I was lucky."
"You were very lucky," I said. "There are a lot of kids who get sick. There are a lot of people who work hard to care for them. This book is about those smart people."
Sam, who is just seven-years-old, doesn't ever miss a trick. "I was thinking about Hunter," he said. "His Mom and Dad must really miss him."
"They do," I said. "But they have this big party to celebrate his life. They try real hard so that other families don't have kids who get sick like Hunter."
"They're always going to remember Hunter," Sam said.
"We're all going to remember him," Jake answered. "I'm going to think of him when I'm playing."
I brought my boys close and gave them a hug. I knew that they didn't grasp all of it, but their simplistic, beautiful look at the life of Hunter Kelly was heart-warming on a lot of levels.
"When you get done signing books will you race mom through the obstacle course again?"
"Certainly," I answered.
"Will you fall on your face like you did last year?" Sam reminded.
"Maybe," I said.
"I bet if Hunter was looking down from heaven, he was laughing at you," Jake said.
"That's okay," I said. "God really likes it when children laugh."
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