Why?

Two years ago we had a lovely girl in our after school group. Lovely inside and out. She was kind to everyone, and especially sweet to the littlest ones. You could often find her reading stories to the kindergarteners or coloring pictures with them.

Her name was Caitlyn. She was of mixed race, which caused her to have wild hair and absolutely beautiful skin.

We all sat at the snack table one day discussing hair. She liked hers because she never had to bother with it. "I just wash it and let it go. It's really easy."

We joked about reverse mohawks, pink and purple spikes, different colors of hair gel. Caitlyn said that she hadn't even had any hair until she was five. When someone said, "Why?!?" she explained that she'd had cancer as a little one, and lost all her hair to treatment. "It took awhile to grow back," she told us.

Her mom was one of the really sweet parents. The ones who ask you how your day was, only they really do want to know. A mom who greeted her daughter every evening with great enthusiasm and took time to look at the projects she had been working on.

They left our program when Caitlyn went on to middle school.

I was in the teacher's room yesterday, and found a flyer on the middle of the big table.
The middle school is holding a fundraiser for Caitlyn's family. They have a goal of raising at least $2,000 to help with expenses.

Caitlyn has bone cancer.