The Children of St. Jude Needs You This Much

On Wednesday afternoon, the nerves started kicking in.  We were making last minute preparations in anticipation for WGNA's 16th Annual Country Cares for St. Jude Kids Radiothon presented by Dom's Pizza, Subs and Wings.  Full disclosure, I get anxious in the hours leading up to the St. Jude Radiothon because I never know what to expect.

What if I can't inspire anyone to become a Partner in Hope?  What if my brain isn't clicking properly and I screw up the phone number, or miss an opportunity to make a connection with a new listener about the virtues of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital?

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It was getting late on Wednesday -  approaching 11PM - and I knew I had to get some sleep, but I couldn't settle down.   The house was quiet but my brain was working overtime while my girlfriend Samantha, 5-year-old son Brody and the two doggies had crashed hours ago.

Just as I shut off the TV and the lights and was getting ready to go into the bedroom, I heard some noises and sounds coming from the area near Brody's room.   I turned around, and in the darkness I saw the silhouette of a little boy just standing there - it took me by surprise. It's pretty unusual for Brody to wake up and get out of bed after he falls asleep, but I was thankful I was awake that late to help the little guy out.

"Hey buddy, what's going on?"" I asked him gently.  In his gravelly, cute little sleepyhead voice he says, "my (night) light is out, can you turn it back on?"

I walked him back into his bedroom, helped him climb back into bed, tucked him in and then reached over to restart the spaceman night light that once again filled his ceiling with stars and planets and spaceships.  "You need anything else bub?" I asked.  "Nope Daddy, I'm good," he said as he laid his head back down for sleep.

As parents, we want to protect our kids and comfort them.  We want them to know we love them, and that they can trust us.  But imagine for a moment, that your child was diagnosed with cancer.  Then what?

The reality is, that is exactly the world parents live in when a child is given a cancer diagnosis and why it's so important to become a Partner In Hope.  Don't wait- do it right now by clicking HERE.

Do it because your children are healthy, or because you know someone with a sick kid battling cancer, or because it just feels right.  Find your "why" and do it now.

As parents, we have enough things preventing us from sleeping at night.   Childhood cancer shouldn't be one of them.