Many of you know that 4 years ago I did a fundraiser and ran 23 miles in memory of the 23 patients I had to say goodbye to in my previous year of nursing. The evil that is cancer stole their little lives and I pledged to do all I could to fight back against that evil. Rowan was one of those little lives. This year I've decided to do another one, but it was Rowan who pushed me to do this one. If you are a nurse you probably know what I'm talking about when I say there are a special few. I adore my patients and I will advocate fiercely for all of them and I fall hard for more than a few, but Rowan was one of those special few. We didn't click right away, understandably I had to work very hard to gain her trust, but man once I was in, I was in. And her life changed my life. Rowan was 4 years old when she passed away from an aggressive form of AML. I remain inspired by her courageous fight every single day. The year she died I journaled this little summary of memories, just a few of my favorites:

"1. The time you spotted me in the hallway, squealed and yelled my name. If only you knew how much love you gave away.
 2. Playing the "scare game" for a solid 30 minutes. I would jump out from behind the wall and you from behind your curtain and we would both belly laugh every time.
 3. You told me I could only hook you back up to your tubey if I caught you - fair- and I finally did but boy were you fast.
 4. You carrying your little singing bear around the room and singing and dancing to Jesus loves me.
Sing and dance forever sweet girl. You made the world a brighter place and I sure was lucky to get to be your nurse"

To this day these are still some of my favorite memories. Rowie gave away more love in her too short 4 years than most people will give in their long lifetimes. She was a joy machine and a resilient force with so much sass and so much sweetness all wrapped up in that tiny body. This Sunday marks 5 years since Row's time here on earth came to an end. It is wild to think it has been 5 years, feels hard to wrap my head around. But lately there have been lots of little "Rowan reminders" and as I reflected on this date coming soon I felt an urge to do something more this year. My goal for the month is 200 miles and $4000. But this Sunday, September 15, I will be running 9 miles, 4 miles for her time here on earth and 5 miles that mark her heavenly homecoming. In memory of Rowan and in honor of her incredible family. And in honor and memory of so so many families who are all facing battles they should never have to face. Children shouldn't get cancer, and children definitely shouldn't die from cancer, but they do. And this is these families realities. Would you consider donating to honor these families and their incredible kids? Childhood cancer research is grossly underfunded and cancer is the #1 cause of death by disease in children. Make it make sense, it never will. But we can do our part in changing it. Thanks for reading along and thanks for considering joining my team in this fight to make things better for our kids. 💛🎗✨