Innocent love.

In the past few weeks I have learned that a cousin of mine has been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in her thigh, right above the knee.

This is cancer of the bone. 
It is metastatic, meaning that it has the ability to spread throughout her body.

The doctors have also found spots on/in her lungs.

Breezy (Brianne) is 9 years old.

It’s somehow easier for me to comprehend an older person having cancer because there are certain cancers that are brought on by lifestyle choices- not that anyone deserves to suffer from cancer- but for an adult, I can say I am more able to cope with hearing a sudden life-threatening illness erupt out of seemingly thin air.
But a child?

The pain associated with cancer is adult pain.  It’s for grown-ups. How can a child bear something like that?  They’re not supposed to.  9 year-olds are supposed to be running, jumping, playing sports, dancing, singing, drawing, learning. 9 year-olds are supposed to be having that blissfully ignorant of the pains and evils of the world kind of life, fully dependent upon their parents to take care of it all.  fall down, skin a knee? Slap a bandaid on and back out you go. 
So, cancer for a 9 year old? 

I visited Breezy’s website today (CaringBridge) and looked through her pictures, and read the journal her mom is keeping for her, and it brought my soul to its knees. 

“But as we sat in the cafeteria Brianne in surgery, I feel reality setting in.  Not only were they doing the biopsy, but they were also placing a port in Breezy’s upper left chest (used for chemotherapy to reduce the need for IV’s).  My denial is fading – our baby girl is fighting cancer – but, not alone. […]”

In earlier posts, Debbie, her mom and my first cousin, writes that Breezy cannot sleep at night for the pain in her leg.
My heart is tearing to know this sweetness of a little girl is having pain that is keeping her up at night. 
It’s not like a stomach ache that eventually goes away- like she could just sleep it off… It’s a phantom that isn’t even letting Breezy rest.

I pray with heaviness in my heart for the intercession of Blessed John Paul the Great to completely heal my beautiful cousin, Brianne, in the name of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. 

If you’re reading this, pray to our Lord for this little sweetness too.