Last night Morriss and I had dinner at the Frontera Grill in Chicopee.  When I got there I sat next to a friendly man who I chatted with for a few minutes.  Morriss arrived a few minutes later filled with news of his son’s high school open house.

In the course of the evening, we ended up talking with the fellow next to me some more and he introduced himself  as Ed Cayo and shared the story of his son, Nick.  He shared with us that at the age of 11 Nick was diagnosed with a high-grade astrocytoma (malignant brain tumor).  They did surgery and treatment and he lived until one day shy of his 13th birthday.

At this point I reached out and held this man.   He may be a stranger, but he is a parent that lived through the worst thing that I can imagine.  Sitting there with Morriss, who had just attended his 14 year old’s open house and myself the mother of a 9 and 12 year old, the emotions were high.

Ed went on to tell us the inspirational tale of what he and is wife created in the wake of their son’s death.  This is from their website:

 

“Nick’s mom and dad, Michelle and Ed Cayo, knew they needed to make a difference for Nick and all the children with pediatric cancer.  The creation of the Steps for Pediatric Cancer Walk is one step closer to bringing the much needed awareness and funding for pediatric cancer research to the forefront.  Michelle and Ed made a promise to Nick to make a difference…and they never intend to break that promise.“

Morriss and I went on to learn that they had just days before held their first event with outstanding results. While I wish I had known about the event in time to attend, I knew as soon as I heard Ed’s story that I wanted to help in every way possible.  All of the funds raised go to pediatric cancer research at the Jimmy Fund in Boston.  I am making a personal donation, of course, but I wanted to take this one step further.  I have a question for you:

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Can you make a donation of any size?  Can your company become a sponsor?  Can you share this on your social media channels to bring a higher awareness to Western MA? 

I know you can do one of not all of those things and I am emploring you to step up and join me in supporting this.  While I don’t know Ed any better than you can from one evening of conversation, I know he is a survivor and I am so impressed with the fact that he and his wife are turning their grief into a gift to the children.

DONATE HERE