For Will.

Around a year ago my good friend Alex sent me a link to a blog. It was written by a friend of hers, a father who was chronicling the life of his then two-year-old son Will, who had been diagnosed with Neuroblastoma (NB) when he was seven-months old. While it was heartbreaking to read, I was immediately struck by how Will's father Patrick wrote with such clarity and eloquence about his son's fight with this devastating disease. Will Lacey is one of the few blogs I read everyday.

Since reading that first post I've followed Will's story through his various treatments, setbacks and agonizing waits for test results. Will's parents have been told there is no cure for his cancer.

I can't begin to imagine what Will and his family are going through. But I do know that reading Patrick's stories always make me want to hold my kids a little closer and enjoy them a little fuller. While Will's struggle is the overriding theme of the site, we also get a glimpse into the everyday life of a curious, rambunctious three-year old. Above all, Will's bravery and his parents' determination to find a cure are an inspiration to me everyday.

When I thought of nominating the post Insurmountable for a Perfect Post Award, I wanted to check with Patrick first. I felt almost embarrassed, that the award was maybe too irrelevant in the face of the serious struggles chronicled on Will's blog everyday. Would he even want his story mentioned on my site, next to trivial posts about schoolyard arguments and parental neuroses? But Patrick responded gracefully and said "...share the pain, spread the love" and felt that it was important for people to understand how horrible this disease really is.

"This is NB. This is what we all live in fear of. This is why we want a cure. This is why funds that are given for kids should be spent on kids. This is why I don't sleep. This is why I have nightmares. This is why I meditate. This is why I'll never be the same. This is why I have to believe there is a cure for Will. This is why I love people that I have never met, have never spoken to, and will never meet. This is why my heart breaks. This is why I created this website to keep from going insane. This is why I can never give up on Will."

This Perfect Post is for Patrick's impassioned writing that seeks to help us understand the struggle the children and the families affected by Neuroblastoma are faced with every minute of every day. But most of all, this is for the boy who is brave in the face of it all.

This is for Will.



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Please read the entire text of Insurmountable and the rest of Will's story here.

You can see other Perfect Post nominees here and here.

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