Rosebush
Original oil painting 16x20"
by Susan Roux
May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month. As some of you already know, I have a young niece with DIPG. She was diagnosed with this terminal brain tumor in January of last year.
This photo was taken prior to her life altering diagnosis. A beautiful, soon to be 8 year old, child with an enormous heart. She has undergone so much in the past 16 months, I could never begin to put it into words. Today, this is a photo of Nicole.
Her disease and treatments have altered her appearance almost beyond recognition. One thing however has not changed, her enormous loving heart. She is seen here pushing a filled grocery cart. Not a cartful purchased by mom that she helps push to the car. No, it is a cartful that she willingly purchased with coins she worked very hard to earn in order to buy food for the poor.
Several moths ago, she decided on her own to do this project for the local food pantry. She asked to be paid for doing odd jobs around the house. Odd jobs that had become a difficult task for a child in her condition. Her heart ached for people who couldn't afford to buy things such as food. She earned the money, made out a shopping list, went shopping and recently delivered her gift. Just pushing the cart was difficult as she often needs a wheelchair to get around these days. I don't know if this special project was prompted by her insatiable appetite due to steroids, bringing her to an acute understanding of what it means to hunger or simply God working through her to teach us all a beautiful lesson in selflessness and giving.
Most likely all of you have lost a loved one to cancer or know a cancer survivor. What is this terrible disease? Where did it come from? I fear our corporations have released countless chemicals over decades into our air, rivers and land. What happened to the fallout of all the nuclear testing of yesteryear? What about present day nuclear catastrophes? In a quest to improve our lives, is it possible humans have only sabotaged them?
May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month. Hundreds of young children, beautiful young children like Nicole, suffer from this. Unfortunately too little goes into finding a cure. Unlike Nicole's selfless act, when the cost to find a cure outweighs the profits to be made, funding for research gets pushed aside. What are we waiting for?
People are going green to help save our planet, but what about companies, corporations? What about all that's been released into our world? Will anyone stand accountable? After all, our planet isn't the only thing suffering...
May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month.
