Fate

Fate is a strange thing.
You grow up and think you have an idea of what your future will be like.
I never had a "plan" other than I would live in either NYC or Chicago after college.
Oh, and I wasn't going to have kids.
No way.

I did the big city living in Chicago.
Immersed in the city life of vast culture, festivals, drug dealers in the alley, and learning to live life my way.
Then I met a man and married him.
And suddenly at the age of 32 it hit me.

I remember I was at Ravinia with the hubby and a little girl ran by.
Chad said "that little girl is so cute" and we both knew right then that we wanted a "cute little girl."
So we did.

It was easy for us.
But we were only doing the "cute little girl" thing once.
But know we have two cute little girls.
And it's our fate.
Our destiny.
To be the parents of two little girls.
Oh, the plans we had for them.
Trips, Pigtails, friends.
Then it happened.
Something no one ever believes is a part of their child's destiny.
Leukemia.
But it must be our destiny.
Zoe's destiny.
To mold her to become the person she will become.
It's not what we thought would happen.
The trips have had to be put on hold.
The pigtails have been relinquished to her little sister because she's lost her hair.
Not once, but twice.
And we hope her friends stick with her through the tough times.
So far, so good.

I will forever remember the day our pediatrician gave us the diagnosis.
I wasn't sad.
I didn't cry.
I was steaming mad that this was becoming her fate.
So I've been determined to fight ever since.
We make the hard decisions and help her through them.

This has become my destiny now, too.
To join the fight against childhood cancer.
To help those that have been affected and to strengthen their cores who happen to be their parents.
Children are the branches that spread out from the base tree trunk called mom and dad.
To fight disease you need strength and a resolve to stand tall.
When your child is diagnosed with a disease that's not part of your "plan" then fate changes.
And you must get on with it.

Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant, filled with odd waiters

who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like.

~Lemony Snicket