News & Events

Catie Team,

      Thank you for continuing to journey with us as we follow the path that God has chosen for us.  Thank you also for your prayers for us from the last update as we traveled to St. Jude.  Remembrance Day 2011 was a wonderful experience, and we are sure that your prayers helped to make it as special as it was.  Christine specifically asked you to remember Max so that he would emerge joy filled from the weekend in Memphis, and based on his smile in this picture; your prayers and ours were answered.

Max and Matthewfilled with joy

      Remembrance Weekend at St. Jude is a special opportunity for families who have lost a child to cancer to come together, share their common experiences, reconnect with friends made at St. Jude, and honor those special children who have left us far too early.  We arrived in Memphis Friday morning after spending the night in Nashville.  As we wound our way around the cloverleaf approaching the hospital, the different reactions of the 7 of us at seeing the all too familiar logo and the words St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was very interesting.  Mia, Molly, and M.E. squealed in excitement.  Max and Maggie were quiet but had smiles on their faces.  Christine had a look that said both, “home again” and “why was this ever home?”  I just tried to concentrate on driving the last mile of our 900 mile odyssey.  While we each reacted differently, the reaction we all shared was the realization that Catie was not physically with us as we approached the hospital, and that was both good, and bad.

      Once we arrived and passed through the security gate by giving the guard Catie’s name, (ouch), we headed off to the gift shop with our list and while there, we met Belle and her mom.  M.E. and Belle became fast friends and played together while the moms talked about radiation treatments, chemo, schedules and tests.  Belle is one of Catie’s Kids now, and each night, M.E. says a special prayer for her new friend with the same hairstyle that her big sister Catie had.  Purchases completed, we next moved over to the Pavilion where the first events of the weekend were being set up.  The Danny Thomas Pavilion is a shrine to the history of St. Jude and the prayerful response of Danny Thomas and those that he inspired to assist him in creating the hospital.  Catie loved the Pavilion and what it represents, and I am sure that she and Danny were present with us as we began to decorate Catie’s board.  Each family is given a bulletin board to decorate with pictures, artwork, mementos, etc. of their child.  By the middle of Friday afternoon, some 30 boards filled the Pavilion with tributes that were both inspiring and bittersweet. 

Luminaries created by the Fab 5

      After setting up the board, Christine and I went over to the blood bank and donated blood for Catie’s Kids and then spent the afternoon in the Pavilion standing by Catie’s board and talking with Catie’s doctors, nurses, schedulers, chaplains; in short, all of the people who had done their best for her and Christine while they were at St. Jude.  To hear again the impact that Catie had and continues to have on these people was an absolute honor.  To hear from them about the difference Catie continues to make through the efforts of so many with the cards that are sent each year on Catie’s birthday and the ongoing prayers of all of you was beautiful.  Thank you for helping us to make a difference in Catie’s name!

      When we were done in the Pavilion, we checked into the hotel and went out for pizza with the Witsoes.  Their son Sean is in heaven with Catie.  The Fab 5 and the Witsoe’s Fantastic 4 had a great time sharing stories, getting to know each other and chowing down on great pizza.  We then headed back to the hotel and had a reception with many of the families, some of whom were back at St. Jude for the first time since their child’s death, and some who had been back many times in the years since their child passed.  The Fab 5 were terrific, and I was so proud of them.  They walked into the room and with the help of the Witsoe children, started a game, and then corralled every other kid in the room and involved them.  With no prompting from us, they had every kid in the room laughing and having fun which allowed the parents to relax and spend time catching up or meeting the other parents in attendance.  It was such a difference from last year when the atmosphere in the room was so low.  The kids stepped up and I am sure that their actions helped many of the families.

      The next morning after Mass, we headed back to the hospital for Remembrance Day.  The plan was to have Mia, Molly, and M.E. hang out with other siblings their age and take part in the planned activities while Maggie and Max did some homework.  Maggie and Max had asked to not participate in the sibling events because the experience last year had been so painful for them.  We allowed them to come up with an alternative.  As Christine and I were ready to go into our morning conference, Max and Maggie called us and asked if they could change their minds and be part of the sibling activities.  Their actions from the night before had allowed them to connect to some of the other kids their age and they wanted to be a part of what was going on.  I was so happy for both of them.  They had not wanted to come on this weekend but knew how important it was to represent Catie and to be there for their mom.  Again, the prayers you offered were answered with this wonderful blessing for Maggie and Max, thank you.

      The morning session was very good, and the panel of parents did a good job of sharing their stories, their grief, their struggles, and their victories in a way that allowed the parents in the audience to relate and feel “normal.”  When we reconnected with the kids for lunch and saw their happy faces, we knew that the decision to come was absolutely the right one!! 

Christine and the Fab 5 launching balloons

After lunch, we gathered for a prayer service for Catie and the other kids and then went back outside for a balloon launch.  After a bunch of hugs and some more tears, the official part of the weekend was over.

Carrying our prayers skyward

      Switching gears quickly, we headed to Germantown and stopped on the way at Miss Mary’s house.  If you remember, Miss Mary was one of Catie’s favorites.  Miss Mary’s cookies were all that Catie would eat on some of the days after chemo.  She is a wonderful friend and we were thrilled to be able to have a cupcake party with her and catch up.   From there we went to visit the Rheas.  Katie Rhea was Catie’s Memphis friend and the Rheas have been a wonderful blessing to us while Catie was in treatment and in the time since.  We then returned to the hotel and stayed up ‘til the wee hours with the Witsoes.  Bright and early the next morning, we left for home, stopped for mass in Lebanon, TN, and arrived home just after 1 AM Monday morning.  We spent Monday recuperating and winding down, and the kids went back to school Tuesday.  While they were at school, Christine and I went to Allentown to see Candee and represent Catie’s Wish at a Care Fair. 

Catie and Miss Mary

Candee continues to be such a wonderful ambassador for Catie and we are truly blessed by her and her passion!  We also taped an interview for a radio spot about the upcoming Give Thanks, Walk, (see details below). 

      All in all, the 2011 Remembrance weekend was a true blessing for our family.  I hope and pray that we were a blessing for others in their journey.  Thank you all for your prayers, you continue to be a true blessing to us.

      As a reminder, please join us at the Give Thanks, Walk to benefit St. Jude and Catie’s Kids on Saturday, November 19^th.  The Fab 5, Christine, and myself will be at the Harrisburg event, and Catie’s Teams have been formed for the Allentown walk as well.  If those two locations do not work for you, there are 80 walks being held this year!!  Register for the event by clicking on the following link, www.givethankswalk.org

 Thank you your ongoing love, support, and prayers.  Together, we will eradicate pediatric cancer and make Catie’s Wish come true.  Hope to see you again on this side of heaven.

 God is good, all the time.

 Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Mia, Molly, M.E., and always Catie

Blessings to All Catie’s Followers!

 We are all together traveling to St. Jude.  Tomorrow we will arrive back in Memphis, TN to celebrate our second and final Remembrance Weekend with other families and the doctors, nurses and staff who cared for and loved Catie.  Last year, you may recall that weekend was held in the beginning of June.  We pulled the kids out of finals and brought them down.  It was a turning point for Max and Maggie as their emotions quickly rose to the surface.  Max spent the better part of last summer angry.  We all did all that we could to be there for Max and help him through this very difficult time in his young life.

 This year we again have pulled all of the kids out of school for a long five day weekend.  It took a lot to even reach the decision to attend Remembrance Weekend.  There were many other activities being held this same weekend.  We chose to go back to St. Jude over our annual Family Retreat Weekend in Malvern and over the Halloween Party which will raise awareness and donations for Catie’s Wish.  The bottom line seemed to be going was the best way to honor Catie and carve out time as a family to remember and reflect on the journey that we all experienced with Catie.

 We all love to talk about Catie.   We openly share our favorite “things to do with Catie,” “best times with Catie,” “Catie loved this or that,” and “remember when Catie did…” stories.  We also talk, though with less frequency, about Catie being sick, having cancer, losing her hair, being in pain, being in a wheelchair and dying.  We seem to constantly talk about where Catie is now, what heaven is like, how we feel Catie’s presence in our lives, and how we know that she is with us every day.

 It all has been part of our journey,  the journey for each of us and for our entire family and it is not over.  We welcomed Catie into our lives.  We loved sharing our lives with her and experiencing her life.  We laughed when she laughed.  We struggled when she struggled.  We suffered when she suffered.  We helped prepare Catie for every first of her life.  We prepared her to die and return to heaven; even as she prepared us.  Now more than two and a half years later here we are.  In many ways sitting at a computer typing to you (just like in those first days and hours at Hershey Medical Center) – those we know and love and trust to have our backs in time of uncertainty – asking you to please keep us in your prayers.  Pray this weekend and please offer prayers for us, and especially for Max, that God’s grace will be with us as we remember and honor Catie’s life.

 We will be seeing several families for the first time since December 2008.  They have lost their child in the past two and a half years and we want to offer them our love and support.  We want to share the memories of how we came to know each other through Catie and their child.  We hope to be there for others as all of you have been there for us.  There are also some kids we pray for who are back at St. Jude, having relapsed and we want to visit them and pray with them.

 We know that some of our memories will not be easy.  We trust that the good that we attempt to do for others will outweigh the pain and longing.  We pray that we are doing the right thing for our family and that we are following God’s will in our lives.

 Thank you for being there for us.  We pray for all of you each and every day.

 God is good, all the time

 Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Mia, Molly, M.E., and always Catie

God Bless to all members of Catie’s Team,

 For most of our lives September meant only one thing – back to school.  The meaning of September has changed since we moved to Pennsylvania.   For one thing the kids start back to school the last week of August.  September also means Pediatric Cancer Awareness month.  Prior to Catie’s diagnosis we were unaware that there was such a month.  We never knew how many companies and restaurants support fund raising for Pediatric Cancer.  We now smile as we watch the Hyundai commercials.  We tear up watching the American Cancer Society commercials where Happy Birthday is sung and the actor wishes for more birthdays.  We eat at Chili’s throughout the month.  We begin to see college students on every corner collecting change for Penn State’s THON.   We continue our work supporting St. Jude as plans are made for the 3^rd Annual Give Thanks. Walk.  [Catie’s Wish will be represented in both Allentown (thank you Candee and Mike) and Harrisburg.]

 This September was a first for us.  Now all five kids are in school.  M.E. began Kindergarten and this year Maggie is in eighth grade.  We always looked forward to this year – when all our kids would be in the same school.  It is wonderful.  M.E. is in school every day but she is home in the afternoons.  When the youngest child goes to school it can be life changing.  I wondered how it would feel when it happened to our kids.  Would there be tears?  Not from M.E. – she didn’t even want us to walk her into class the first day.  She rides the bus home at noon.  M.E. is so excited to be a big kid.  The first day she told all of us that she had been waiting her whole life to go to school everyday.  It doesn’t make us sad.  We miss her but knowing that she is going to come home takes away the sadness.

 It is that same thing that keeps coming back to us with Catie.  We miss her.  In some ways every day there is something that we miss about Catie.  And yet she is with us.  Catie is with all of us.  Today this last day of September, the last day of a month dedicated to pediatric cancer, we wanted to share how we not just miss Catie but rather how we know Catie is with us and all of you.

 Today we received an e-mail from a member of Catie’s Team who wrote how Catie is with her.  This dear soul, Amy, wrote that she is struggling because her daughter’s best friend has cancer.  Amy thanked us for sharing all that we did about Catie’s journey and she mentioned that she had recently re-read some of the updates and that they made her feel better.  That is one way that Catie is still with us. 

 Catie is still with us everyday.  She is apart of every prayer that we offer for pediatric cancer.  Catie continues to live and be apart of our lives through our faith in God.  Without God and faith on this journey, that many people simply call LIFE, we are not truly living.  It is also my belief that Catie is working on those prayers as well. Catie always wanted to help others or to be in two places at one time – now she can. I know that she walks through my everyday with me – which I can only feel if I pray. There are even days when I am very busy trying to finish my list before M.E. arrives home at noon and I can hear Catie singing.  If I stop to listen the singing stops but as soon as I am busy again there is that whisper of Catie singing.  (When Catie was alive I loved hearing her sing.  It is one thing that I wish I had recorded.)  Today as I was typing this – my mind going in a million different directions – I heard Catie’s voice call from her room upstairs “Mommy.”  I know that I am not crazy it is Catie and while it brings me to tears and I would give anything to run up the stairs and hold her and yet I know that I would hesitate to run to her.  I would wonder what she had to give up – heaven? – to be with me.  I would wonder how would she be – would she be paralyzed?  blind?  would she still have cancer?  How could I ever want her back here when I know she is in heaven.  Wouldn’t life be better for me if I reached for heaven myself everyday through how I live?

 I also know that Catie is with the Fab 5 at school guiding them to make good choices. I know that Catie is with Kevin every day at work.  She loved visiting him at work.  It is not just her photos that keep him company but her spirit too.   I also know that she is with every kid that prays for their own healing as she prayed for her own healing.  I pray that I never forget the day she knelt and prayed at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in Emmitsburg, MD. She first wrote on a piece of paper, “Please God make me better. I am sick with brain cancer.” She put her prayer into the basket and knelt and prayed. As I stood there with her I wondered what the other requests said and how only God could listen to them all. Only God could love all those who wrote their prayer requests and never become down or hurt or overwhelmed by all the requests. Only God held the answer for Catie. Only God holds the answer for all of us.

 God is not like the waves of the ocean.  God is the ocean.  God is.  No matter what occurs. The one constant in life is God and His immense love and mercy for each of us.

 Is cancer awful? Yes and no. It rattles us. It brings us to our knees and we often find ourselves begging God for mercy – or healing – on this person or this child. We also find ourselves so moved by the experience that we are willing to sacrifice anything to help that person or child. Anything that brings us closer to God cannot be awful. To see a child suffer is awful – there are still many days that I experienced with Catie that I will not allow myself to think of at all.  It is how we respond and what choices we make that makes all the difference. These are the defining moments in our lives.

 Several days each week I volunteer at the kid’s school.  I am hugged by many kids as they walk through the halls.  Catie would be in fifth grade. Last year I worked in her fourth grade class. I felt Catie’s presence – maybe I needed to, maybe I imagined it or maybe it was real. Does it matter? Each time I saw those kids – those classmates of Catie’s – I saw Catie and all her love, all her spark and all her life.  Each time I see those kids and my Fab 5 I think of how we responded to Catie’s death.  How we responded was so important to me and to us. It was important because we wanted to make sure that it was known by all who witnessed that God was there with us. We weren’t going to do anything perfectly but we would do whatever we did prayerfully.

 We asked so many to pray with us. We traveled to France with our crippled daughter. I carried her naked body and dipped her into the miraculous and yet freezing waters asking/begging/pleading for a miracle. We put everything in God’s hands. We believed. We did not doubt. And yet Catie died. Did we get our miracle?

 Catie is healed and through faith we do believe that we will once again be reunited with her. There are days when everyone is sad or hurt or angry and on those days I struggle just like when Catie was in treatment. On those days I am still waiting for my miracle. There are other days when one of the Fab 5 is laughing or I look over and see Kevin smiling at what one of them is doing and I know that we are happy and filled with peace. We are strong. We have faith. We can survive and thrive even though we have this loss and pain. At those moments I know that we did get our miracle.

 At those moments I feel so blessed and so grateful to have experienced what we did exactly how we did.  At those moments I feel so blessed that God gave us the strength to share Caties’ story with all of you.  At those moments I am grateful to all of you for helping us through this leg of our journey home to heaven.  You were our strength when we were weak and we are eternally grateful.

 God is good, all the time,

Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Mia, Molly, M.E., and always Catie

Good evening Catie Team,

 It is our hope and prayer that this message finds you healthy, well, and in the loving embrace of the Father.

 As we look back on the updates and the memories of the past three years, you can imagine the range and depth of the emotions that we continue to experience.  You can imagine them because you have walked this journey with us and we continue to thank you.  Three years ago, Catie and Christine were heading to St. Jude after a wonderful couple of days in South Carolina with Catie’s Grandparents, Aunt Lynn, Uncle John and her cousins.  She had gone through the pain and the not knowing what was wrong to knowing that she had a tumor, having it removed and then finding out that it was a rare malignant cancer that would need aggressive treatment.  She was on the verge of testing, 31 radiation treatments, losing her hair, 2 rounds of chemo, and finding out that through all of that, she was going to lose her battle.  2 years ago, Christine and I and the fab 5 were hunkered down in the mountains trying to make sense of what had happened.  A year ago, even though time had elapsed since Catie’s death, we were struggling more than ever.  Max was falling into a miasma of hurt, pain and anger, and we were coming apart as a family. 

 Last weekend, as we celebrated our country’s independence, our faith and family is stronger than ever.  Remembering Catie still brings a tear to our eyes, but we move on.  Celebrating M.E.’s 5^th birthday meant that she has been alive for a longer period of time without Catie than with her. 

M.E. enjoying the beach

In general, we have had a good start to the summer.  4 of the fab 5 are on the swim team and go to practice every morning for a few hours.  Despite some grumbling, it provides them with a good workout, some time to blow off some steam, and a chance to be with other kids.  The vegetable gardens that were under construction when Catie was diagnosed are complete and full of zucchini, beans, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkins and enough herbs to make any meal flavorful.  Each of the kids helps with weeding, watering and harvesting.  They all have their chores that they complete, and it most cases, they do so with a minimum of complaint.  They are generally happy and I find myself thanking God daily that to this point they are doing so well when so many siblings of cancer victims succumb to depression, anger management issues, behavioral issues, and addictions.  Catie is clearly doing a great job of taking care of each of them and while they each miss her in their own way, they all are proud of who Catie is and seek what they hope is her approval from heaven.

Maggie, Max, Mia, and Molly at swim team

 As for Catie’s Wish, it has been twenty-nine months since Catie went home to heaven and left us with our mission.  In that time some amazing accomplishments and blessings have come to fruition through you and thousands of people across the country and around the world.  Close to $3 million dollars has been raised in Catie’s name for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  The legacy wish to commemorate her birthday, April 23^rd that Catie first shared with her us has spread and thousands have responded.  Imagine the number of calendars that were colored purple for Catie’s birthday this year, and please ask all those you meet to honor her with that tribute as a beautiful reminder of our beautiful, selfless little girl.

 Catie knew at seven years of age that prayer was an even bigger part of the battle against pediatric cancer.  People responded to this and logged over a quarter of a million prayers in just a few short weeks and the prayers continue to be prayed and counted.  Beautiful stories continue to reach us of families, schools, friends, gathering to pray for Catie’s intercession and an end to pediatric cancer and the hopefulness and unity provided by those prayers and those stories keep us going.  They also keep the families going that are fighting the battle now.  There are still hundreds of children and families going through the journey we walked with Catie, and we humbly ask for your continued prayers for them.  This battle is not yet over, but because of you, we are closer than ever before to an end and a cure.

 We continue to hold you in our daily prayers and hope that this summer is a time of renewal and blessing for you.

 God is good, all the time!

 Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Mia, Molly, M.E., and always Catie

Michael and Marissa Brown organized the second annual Lemonade Stand at the Trindle Springs Neighborhood Yard Sale on May 7th.  The kids and their friends enthusiastically raised over $187 dollars for Catie’s Wish and spread the word about Catie and her mission.  With this kind of wonderful support from children across the country. we will beat pediatric cancer and fulfill Catie’s Wish.

John Christie, Ben Gnall, Michael Brown, Derek Yost. Marissa Brown, and Renee Scullen

Catie Team,

 Just a quick note to let you know that we celebrated Catie’s Birthday on Saturday in South Carolina where Catie spent so many wonderful vacations with her Poppy and Grammy and her Uncle John, Aunt Lynn, and cousins Anna, Douglas, and Austin.  We did many of the things that Catie loved to do, we went to the beach, jumped in the waves, flew kites, and ate cupcakes, (purple of course).  The next day was Easter, and celebrating the Resurrection gave us the joy to accept Catie’s physical absence and concentrate on her very real presence in our hearts.  There were few tears and a great deal of laughter.

 The prayer total continues to climb daily with over a quarter of a million prayers logged in just a few short weeks.  While we have not yet reached a million prayers, keep them coming as we will leave the page up.  Catie’s Kids need the prayers as much today as they did in the days leading up to Catie’s birthday.  Thank you for continuing to remember these children as they wage the battle of and for their lives.

 Thank you also for your generous donations that continue to arrive daily.  We do not have any final totals yet, but continue to realize that every dollar, like every prayer makes a difference.  For example, we received a letter last week from a young girl who sent us $3.54 and 354 prayers.  What a wonderful testament to her understanding that eradicating pediatric cancer will take both research and prayers.  Many of the donations have beautiful notes attached, and the emotions that arise from these letters slows the process a bit.

 We also received some wonderful acknowledgements and thanks from the staff and patients at St. Jude for the cards and “Happys” that were sent to the Hospital to celebrate Catie’s birthday.  It is bittersweet to hear how alive Catie continues to be at St. Jude in the hearts and minds of the people who knew her and fell in love with her while she was there.  She really was and is a special little girl, and though I selfishly miss her terribly, I am so proud of her and happy for her that she is home for eternity.

 God is good, all the time,

 Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Mia, Molly, M.E., and always Catie

 Keep those prayers coming – www.catieswish.org/praytoday

Catie Team,

     Thank you for continuing to journey with us as we honor and remember Catie and experience the effect her short life continues to have.  As we prepare for Easter and what would have been Catie’s 10^th birthday, we continue on the roller coaster ride inherent in the world of pediatric cancer.  Over a quarter of a million prayers have been said in a few short weeks by people across the country and around the world for Catie’s Kids, and each one of them has reached little Catie and God in heaven.  Please continue to pray and to have those prayers counted by logging onto www.catieswish.org/praytoday.  If you have many prayers to log and do not want to keep refreshing the page, send me an e-mail (kevin.catieswish@yahoo.com) and we will load the prayers for you.

     Christine and I attended a St. Jude event in Baltimore and had the opportunity to reconnect with the parents of some of Catie’s Kids; some who are still battling, some who are surviving, and some of whom have joined Catie.  Spending time with them, sharing our journeys and struggles, and at the same time supporting St. Jude made for a wonderfully exhausting evening.  Understanding anew the constant and unending battle that pediatric cancer wages on our children firmed our resolve to continue to do whatever we can, wherever we can.  Thank you for assisting us as we continue to seek to eradicate pediatric cancer through prayer and research.

     On a very positive note, the hundreds of Birthday cards for the patients, doctors, nurses and staff at St. Jude have been sent, timed to arrive by Catie’s birthday.  It is our way to let the kids and all of those that care for them know that they are remembered in a very special way on April 23^rd.  Remembering the look on Catie’s face when a letter or package would arrive and the joy that accompanied its arrival compels us to try to put that smile on as many faces as we can.

Catie's 1000 Kilowatt Smile

            Please know that each of you are remembered in our prayers.  May God bless you and the work of your hands.

 God is good, all the time

 Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Mia, Molly, M.E., and always Catie

Catie’s Team,

     Catie’s Kids – we refer to them as Catie’s kids knowing how she wanted to help them from heaven and how she asked us to help them here on earth.  We list the names of all the kids that we pray for on the list http://catieswish.org/pray-with-us/injured-reserve-for-caties-team/ .  If there is a child that you know of that you would like us to add to this list please let us know.

      Another day, and another 46 children and their families have heard the words that we heard with Catie; “your child has cancer”.  Devastating words and yet many of those 46 will find hope, and a cure, and a cancer-free life because of the support and dedication of thousands who have been battling these diseases for years and continue to do so today.  We pray today for all of them, Catie’s Kids, their families, and the professionals who fight this battle every day.  Today a 7-year old girl in our community heard those words, we pray for her and for her family.  We have reached out to them and are praying for them as they decide on the best way to help their daughter.  Please join us as we pray.

 www.catieswish.org/praytoday

 Thank you

 God is good, all the time

 Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Mia, Molly, M.E., and always Catie

 Catie Team,

      Spring is popping out all over.  The illegally planted crocuses in front of Catie’s grave, (Christine made me do it) are popping and so are the prayers for Catie’s Kids and an end to pediatric cancer. (We planted purple, Catie’s favorite and they are coming up yellow which is the color of Hope).  Just a few days ago, we asked that you join us in prayer so that we could record one million prayers for the eradication of pediatric cancer.  With Catie’s birthday April 23^rd just over a month away, we are pulling out all the stops, contacting prayer groups, colleges, Adoration Societies, Convents, Nursing homes etc. to invite and inspire people to join us, and it is our humble request that you do the same.  We have been blessed by the Sisters at EWTN who will be in 24 Hour Eucharistic Adoration until Catie’s birthday praying for a future when no child ever has to hear the words that Catie heard, “you have cancer and there is nothing we can do to stop it.”

      I can remember when we met with Dr. Phillips at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and were trying to determine what kind of tumor Catie had and what the best options were.  There was the St. Jude protocol, (the one Catie eventually participated in at St. Jude), and a protocol from Boston Children’s Hospital.  Like all parents faced with two options and only one chance to save our child, we asked which one offered Catie the best chance at survival and a future.  Dr. Phillip’s answer was that it would take fifty years because of the rarity of Catie’s tumor to have enough patients on the two protocols and be able to determine which one had a greater degree of success.  While we were crestfallen, Catie chimed in from across the room, “that’s ok, I’m only seven, we have time.”

      What childlike faith, hope, and optimism.  Unfortunately, doctors and parents are having similar conversations to the one we had with Dr. Phillips at hospitals across the country today and they need our prayers.  Over 20,000 prayers have been said in the last 3 days.  We may never know God’s response.  Perhaps there is a child today that we will never know about who had one rogue cell that was about to begin to rapidly reproduce, and because of you storming heaven, that cell died instead and that child’s life was spared.  Perhaps a parent, under the strain of having a sick child, daunting financial responsibilities, chose not to abandon his family and leave his marriage, because of your prayers.

      Please log on today to www.catieswish.org/praytoday and say a prayer.  Say a Rosary and log 60 prayers.  Go to church for an hour and log 60 prayers.  If you go with someone else, log 120 prayers.  If you sing a prayer, log it twice because singing is praying twice.  Know that as you pray for Catie’s Kids, we are praying for you.  We have one seventh grade Religion class who are praying at the beginning of each class together.  That is 44 prayers.  They add up….once you start!!

 Pray today and pass it on.  The prayer you say today will make a difference in a child’s tomorrow and it will make a difference in your life as well!

 Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Mia, Molly, M.E., and always Catie