Despite all the treatment, Hope adjusted. She continued to learn and mature. She played and sang and laughed. She loved to color, and she was provided with an endless supply of crayons and coloring books. She made up for not being able to run around by being creative. Hope was also very easy to comfort -- she loved to be rocked and we loved rocking her. She also loved to swing at our house, at our neighborhood park, and at Grandma and Grampa's.

She learned to disassociate the things she had to go through, from the person who had to do it to her. Although she would always get very nervous prior to a trip to the doctor or hospital, once there she was usually pretty happy. She loved the nurses at the doctor's office, Erin and Kristi. She often looked forward to telling them about some event that she had gone to or something she had seen.

As most young children do, Hope loved watching videos (over and over again). She particularly liked The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, The Sound of Music and Toy Story 2 (my personal favorite), although she would periodically switch to other favorites. A lot of her time was spent coloring or playing with play-doh in front of the TV with a video in.

Hope loved going to her Sunday School class. There she was just one of the normal kids where she got to sing and do crafts. Sharolyn (who sat in on the class) told me on one occasion that they were going around the circle of kids, asking if they wanted to pray for someone, like a family member or friend. When they got to Hope, the teacher asked if they could pray for her, but she said no, she wanted to pray for her daddy. I am overwhelmed by the love of my daughter.

Hope turned three on October 7th, 2000. She had a Wizard of Oz themed party at our house with some close friends and 6-7 children. Hope was dressed as Dorothy. Unlike previous birthdays, Hope knew what birthday parties were all about this time. She blew out her candles and opened her presents like a pro.

On October 12th, the company I work for, Motive, put on a 10k run raising $80,000 to benefit that Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It's a great company and went way beyond any expectations I could have had in the way of support. They made it perfectly clear at all levels that they wanted me to make caring for Hope my highest priority.      next>>