The Childhood Cancer Blog

The Childhood Cancer Blog

Welcome to The Childhood Cancer Blog
from Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation!

Alex learning to walk

Today marks 17 years since I shared my last moments with my daughter Alex. It was a lifetime ago. Since then, our lives have marched on. So many small and large moments have come and gone and milestones have been reached. I have tried to live a good life that honors her through our work with the Foundation, of course, but also a life that honors something greater – the gift of having dreams and life goals and getting to reach them. I guess you would say living a full and purposeful life is itself a tribute to Alex, as it was something she fought for and worked for her entire life. 

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Today is my daughter’s 25th birthday. She isn’t here to celebrate with us — her last birthday with us was when Alex was just 8 years old.

The conflicting emotions that I feel today are inseparable from each other. Alex’s birthday is a reminder of the gift of her life and the ache of her absence. I feel gratitude and joy alongside grief and sadness. I carry the complexity of these feelings with me every day as I try to live my best life possible, just as she did. 

Alex is not physically here, but her heart, her beliefs and her legacy are everywhere I look. 

Alex had... Read More

Pictured here: Patrick, age 8 and Alex, age 7 outside their home in Wynnewood, PA in the fall of 2003.

Pictured here: Patrick, age 8 and Alex, age 7 outside their home in Wynnewood, PA in the fall of 2003.

On Alex’s Angel Anniversary in 2017, I wrote a letter to my sister about everything she meant to me over the years. Today, on the eve of what would have been her 25th birthday, I want to share a portion of that letter with you:

To my sister Alex,

Today marks 13 years since your death on August 1, 2004. At the time, you were 8 and I was 9. Had you lived, you would be 21 now. It’s difficult to imagine, because you will always be fixed in my memory, and in the memories of Mom, Dad, Eddie and Joey, as an 8-year-old girl. It... Read More

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