September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month. Day 30 of my celebration of Nick.

Nick left this earth almost 30 years ago but what remains is a legacy few will ever achieve. The outpouring of monetary support and the gift of time left us the ability to showcase his character and share him & his memory with those groups and organizations most precious to our family and Nick’s childhood:

- The children’s library & books at the hospice

- Corpus Christi Church (communion trays)

A painting in Nick’s memory at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

- Oakland Children’s Hospital

- Nor Gwyn Swim team

- Nor Gwyn Little League (The Nicholas Lesser Memorial Courageous Athlete Award) - The Courageous Athlete Award is reserved for players who have demonstrated extraordinary courageousness in overcoming a significant health, handicap, family, or similar hardship. This is awarded infrequently and only four times total (the last in 2000) since Nick’s passing.

- North Wales Elementary – both the Nicholas Daniel Lesser award (for the student who demonstrates a positive attitude and scholastic perseverance) and the playground dedicated in his memory. That playground was assembled from the ground up by a group of volunteers after Nick’s death. So many people turned out to put it together that the entire playground structure was together in less than a day. There was a beautiful dedicated ceremony and then again a rededication in 2002 when the equipment needed to be replaced to stay up to code.

I feel Nick’s presence every single day and I do not doubt that there are people he came in contact with in his short life that feel the exact same. In fact, one of Nick’s classmates wrote a story about his playground. A young girl was impacted so much by him that years later, in high school, she wrote a story about him. (and for those who are interested, that story is below underneath the donation link – if you can, take the two minutes to read it; it is worth it to see how another 8-year-old remembers Nick’s short time in second grade)

When Mat and I started dating, he told me that one of the things he loved most about me was my dedication to keeping Nick’s memory alive; that not a day went by without him coming up in conversation in some way. Nick is still a part of my life and forever will be. And it is a cruel twist of nature that more people never had the chance to meet him. To know him.

To me, this is living a full life. . .no matter how long you were on this earth to have such a lasting impact that all this time later people still remember and still talk about you. To have lived a life that no one can ever forget. Nick did that; he was that boy. In 8 years he lived a life that will forever be worth remembering.

To you, my brother Nick, I would give away almost anything to have just 10 minutes with you – to see you, to hug you, to hear your laugh again. I love you so much & am so thankful you are my brother. And I am forever grateful for you making me a better and stronger person. Every now and again I might shed some tears over a memory but I will also continue to share stories of laughter, good times, kindness and perseverance for as long as I have breath in my lungs. You will always be my angel and for that, I am a lucky girl. I hope I did you proud to celebrate our birthdays. I love you little brother, to the moon, to the stars and back.

“Days of Innocence” – by Jessica L. Franks

Second grade. Remember it well? Fun. I thought so. Waiting all day for that one word – recess, but before that I had “work to do. Trying to remember “I before E except after C” during that spelling test but I’d seem to forget every time I’d get to a ward that actually applied to that rule. Trying to pronounce every word just right when it was my turn to read in reading, but for some reason my tongue kept getting stuck where my right front tooth used to be. Gosh, such problems. Meanwhile, I can barely sit still as my corduroy pants create a ribbed imprint on my legs that itches so badly. I just have to squirm, and I end up looking like I’m trying to invent a new dance. My teacher thinks I have to go to the bathroom and sends me to use the facilities. Finally, after examining cocoons for an hour, my prayers are answered. “Recess!” All at once the whole second grade is released and one hundred screaming three foot monsters run by. It seems he high metal climbing contraption in the center of the playground is the main attraction. Everyone wants to be first to the top, and be king. I want to be king. Not him, he wants so much less, he’s not asking for much.

Second grade. Remember it well? His family remembers. Painful, sad. He never complained, certainly not about anything like a spelling test. He took his at home, his mom would give the test to him. He read a lot too, in waiting rooms. He became a very good reader. The gowns were very comfortable for him and he didn’t need his mom to pick out his clothes very often, like the rest of us. We rarely saw him at school that year but he was in our class. Sometimes he was there. When recess came he was just as excited as the rest of us to escape to the playground. I remember watching from afar as the boys played some kind of game with a ball. He played too. At one point the harsh wind lifted the blue baseball cap he always wore right off his head. As it blew around him in circles he chased it to quickly retrieve it and replace it. Probably hoping no one had noticed the tragedy. I saw, and I’ll never forget, the bald head of a little boy. Soon after that he wasn’t at the playground anymore.

When we were at our playground we could be anything we wanted, and we all wanted to be king. All he ever wanted to be was a third-grader.

Now the playground that the children play on was built in memory of Nick.