Conflicted

St. Jude's is a wonderful organization. I appreciate the fact that they are one of the very few places the focuses on researching childhood cancer and they provide treatment to children/families without cost (the cost alone can be devastating to families).

However, we were rejected.

Rejected is probably too harsh.

We were not accepted by St. Jude's because we didn't fit nicely into one of their clinical trials. If you don't meet the clinical trial criteria, you do not get in. But once you are in, you are in for life (which hopefully is long and happy).

The kooky thing is, I didn't even want Cameron to be in a clinical trial. Or for us to be that far away from the love and support of family and friends. What I wanted was a miracle. A cure. Hope.

So why am I talking about St. Jude's now?

Samantha is desperate to participate in the St. Jude's Mathathon at her school. (Mostly I think she wants the t-shirt.) She knows that they take care of kids with cancer. Her little booklet has a beautiful bald child on the cover. That child reportedly has AML - the same type of leukemia that Cameron had. She wants to help. She thinks if she can raise some money, she can save a child's life. My little idealistic dreamer.

So, what is a mom to do?

Well, this mom just wrote a $50 check.