The night before my daughter Alex was born, I had some contractions, but I thought they were fake. Alex wasn’t due for six weeks. We were still getting used to the enormity of the love and responsibility that came with being parents to one child, our then 15-month-old son Patrick. Never would I have imagined that the next day, Jay would be speeding me to the emergency room straight from the doctor’s office. Alex, my amazing daughter, was born one hour later, a beautiful, healthy surprise. She’d keep surprising us over the course of her life — and even afterwards.

Earlier this month I celebrated my 52nd birthday. Every year in the days surrounding my birthday I find myself reflecting on my life. I try not to fill my reflections with regrets, but instead focus on all that is good in my life and the people I am grateful for. I feel like the luckiest person in the world, so choosing just one person to be grateful for is like trying to choose a favorite star in the sky. Some people seem surprised when I say I am lucky. My beautiful, amazing daughter, Alex, died when she was 8 years old from neuroblastoma. She was sick for nearly her entire short, sweet life.

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. The lemonade stand she wanted to host to help other kids get better is a shining example of how she had a dream and worked hard to reach it.  But Alex had other things she wanted to do too, some she achieved through pure grit, and some were left incomplete. Alex was not yet a year old when she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. That diagnosis would frame the rest of her life; but it would not stop her from dreaming and fighting for all the things she wanted. 

On Alex’s Angel Anniversary in 2017, I wrote a letter to my sister about everything she meant to me over the years. I want to share a portion of that letter with you. Read more, from Patrick Scott, Alex's brother.

Today is the rare collision of the day our daughter Alex passed away at the age of 8 and the start of Lemonade Days. Our daughter Alex had a rare cancer with neuroblastoma — not one in a million — but pretty rare. And she was a young trailblazer, who at the age of 4, ignited a movement to cure childhood cancer with lemonade stands. As her mother, I know that knowing Alex was a once in a lifetime gift, and sadly her lifetime was cut short. Alex was just 8 years old when she died. We all miss her every moment.