When I read that Barbara was hosting a LiveSTRONG with A Taste of Yellow 2008 event I knew I wanted to participate. She created the event last year to raise awareness and is fighting cancer herself. She is from Australia, my second most favorite place (after Italy of course). Last year 149 bloggers participated. I had dreams of finding an amazing recipe to try but decided to bake what I was told Brielle might enjoy.
She is a friend of our family’s daughter. Just days into 2008 they received the news that she had RMS (Rhabdomyosarcoma), a form of cancer that approximately 250 children in the US are diagnosed with each year.
Brielle, at 10 years old, is the bravest little girl I know. I would tell you her story but I think I’ll let their words speak for themselves. Jim and Lisa, along with her grandfather, have shared their heart wrenching journey. Their honest account of walking their precious daughter through cancer treatments captured the hearts and prayers of our church, community and beyond.
Her classmates wear little blue rubber wristbands as a reminder to pray for her. Brielle even has her own page where she occasionally shares stories. The stories of her quest to find a dog and the adoption of Faith, the pekinese with deformed legs, make you laugh and smile.
Others are harder to read. This morning as I am writing this I went over to their blog and read Jim’s fears as they enter a waiting period to find out if the tumor has shrunk. Their faith in God is what is sustaining them, carrying them through another day and giving them hope for the future.
I have a niece and two nephews who are 4, 5 & 7 years old. Brielle is their friend and they all learned about cancer this year. This winter and now into spring so many people I know are fighting this battle. As they fight each of them shows incredible strength and courage. My sister-in-law’s mother Christine is fighting breast cancer, Nancy, my bible study teacher has ovarian cancer and Natalie, a friends 3 year old daughter, has leukemia. Each of them is walking the same road. As I pray for them I remember that each day is truly a gift from God and that we should live it to the fullest.
This weekend I was scheduled to bring the family a meal. Joy, my sister-in-law and I teamed up to cook the meal. She said that Brielle liked plain sugar cookies. One of her challenges has been to not lose anymore weight. So this morning I tried out a Martha Stewart cookie recipe and then we used Joy’s frosting.
Every Christmas Joy and her friend Deanna have a cookie exchange and she always makes these great cookies with the best sugar cookie frosting I have ever tasted. She tells me that the recipe has been handed down throughout all of their friends, so if you are the creator of the recipe, I apologize.
Livi, Chase and Luke got in on the effort, helping to decorate cookies. No arm twisting there. So my Taste of Yellow entry is not super fancy but it is from the heart and full of prayers that they will receive hope in the upcoming test results. Yes, I do believe Luke was about to lick that knife!
To read more about Brielle and her journey check out their blog. For more about LiveSTRONG with A Taste of Yellow visit on May 13th and see all the entries.
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