Little boy asked, “Daddy, will you tell me a story?”

With all the love in his heart, the father smiled and agreed.

Once upon a time, there was a little baby boy. He was a good boy and everyone loved him. The baby boy had an older brother, but the brother was only older by a few years.

In the mornings, the baby boy would sit in his high chair and his brother would sit near him at the kitchen table. Their mother would make breakfast and the two boys would eat together. They laughed and they sang. The mother would smile happily as she sang along too.
Most mornings, the father would rush through the kitchen before leaving for work. He would kiss the two boys before heading out and then the father would kiss his wife goodbye.

After breakfast, the two brothers would go in the television room. They would sit on the couch or play with their matchbox cars on the floor while watching their favorite television shows.
On nice days, they would go outside and play. The baby boy was so happy to be outside. His older brother was happy too.
In the autumn months, the older brother would collect leaves in a pile. Then the older brother would cover himself, and pop out from beneath the leaves and shout, “Surprise!”

All the leaves would fly up as the older brother leapt from the pile. This always made the baby boy laugh out loud.
This made their mother laugh too, so the older brother would gather all the fallen leaves and do it again.

The older brother scooped up all the colorful leaves he could find, and same as before, the older brother placed them in a big pile in the family’s backyard. The baby boy would giggle with excitement as his older brother buried himself in the leaves.

“Are you ready,” asked the older brother.
The baby boy laughed even louder because he knew what was coming.

“Surprise!” shouted the brother, and then he leapt from the pile of leaves with his arms wide open.

The mother would watch this and she would smile. She always made sure the two were dressed properly. She made sure the older brother wore his jacket because the months were beginning to cool. The little boy dressed warmly too with a light coat and dark blue hat that was knitted by his grandmother.

Lunchtime was always a fun time in their house.

Everyone made sure to wash up and clean their hands first before sitting at the table. The baby boy sat in his high chair and his brother sat right beside him.
Mom would make different foods for lunch. She fed her boys well because a healthy belly meant a healthy boy.
Mom would make different meals, but the baby boy always loved soup. Tomato was his favorite—but he always offered to share. The older brother offered to share his food as well because this is what we do with the people we love.

The two boys sat and finished their lunch. They sang and they played while their mother cleaned after them and made sure the house was well-kept.
The father would call from work and he made sure to speak with everyone in the house. Of course, every phone call was always ended with the words, “I love you.”

When evening came, the two boys were ready for dinner. By this time, the father had come home. They all sat together as a family. The father would tell about his day and mother would fill in father about what the boys did while he was gone.

Everyone made sure to finish everything on their plate so that afterwards, everyone was able to enjoy something sweet for dessert. Cake was always the favorite in this house.

After dinner was done and dessert was finished, the father took his two sons in the television room to play. Some days he would be a train. Both the baby boy and his older brother would sit on their father’s back as he moved hands and knees across the living room floor, tooting, “Choo-Choo!”

Some days, the father would take turns and lift the boys high in the air. He lifted them, one at a time, so they could lay flat and pretend to fly.
The boys would spread their arms, as if their arms were the wings of an airplane. They made airplane sounds, like “Zoom,” as they pretended to fly through the air.
After they played, everyone settled down and the boys watched a few shows before going to bed. But when bedtime came, clean little boys slept in their clean little beds beneath their clean little sheets.

The father would read his boys a few bedtime stories and then he kissed both of his sons before saying goodnight.

The older brother was settled into his bed first and tucked beneath the blankets. Then he snuggled his little face in the pillow and said, “Goodnight mommy. Goodnight daddy.”
To which mommy replied, “Goodnight baby,” and daddy said, “Goodnight son.”

The baby boy was prepared for his crib where a proud loving father and a proud loving mother would lay the baby boy down and set him off to sleep. They were so proud as parents. They were so lucky as a family

“Daddy,” interrupted the boy listening to the story.

Yes son?

“Whatever happened to that baby boy?”

Well, cancer came along and you died before you reached the age of three.
And not one day will ever go by that your mom, your brother and I will not be thinking of you.

Sleep well now son.

I promise we will all be together again

Someday . . .

The St. Baldrick’s Foundation

It’s not just about shaving your head to raise money

It’s about raising money to put an end to pediatric cancer.
It’s about raising awareness and finding a treatment that is less toxic so that our children will not only beat and survive cancer, but they will go on to live a long and healthy life

Visit St Baldrick’s @ stbaldricks.org

#loveforjake
#courageforcarsyn

Written by Ben Kimmel, The Written Addiction www.thewrittenaddiction.com