O is for Outstanding

For the last 15 weeks, we have been sending one letter card a week to Atticus Hansen in Sunnyvale Texas.

Very soon after we got the email, recruiting everyone to send letters and postcards, I came up with the idea to send letters of the alphabet.  After doing a little research, I realized the survival rate for his cancer was very low, and only a few months at that.   I was always afraid he wouldn't make it to Z.  It would have just been 26 weeks.  That's not that long.

He only made it to O.  O for Outstanding.  Yesterday, after 5 months of fighting, he passed away.  It is a bittersweet thing to lose a child who has been suffering from cancer.  On the one hand, he can finally rest, but on the other, his parents have to say goodbye to their precious baby boy.  I can't even imagine the heartache they must feel at his passing.  Knowing there is life after death can certainly ease the pain and help with understanding, but it doesn't automatically make you feel better.  It's a difficult thing to handle, no matter what the circumstance.

I am grateful, however, that we were able to get to know the Hansen family.  I'm grateful for their tremendous example of humility, service, sacrifice, and complete faith and trust in Heavenly Father.  I'm grateful for little Atticus, and the opportunity I had to be a part of his life, however small it was.  He will always be a strong hero in my eyes; at just four years old he endured more than most people will ever have to in a lifetime.  And he did it with a smile.  I'm sure his parents are proud and honored to have been blessed with such a son, who touched the lives of many people all over the world.

Rest in peace, sweet Atticus.