In Memory Of Nicholas Colby Gilbert...The Nicholas Colby Fund - Helping Children Be Children
ABOVE PICTURE Nicholas Colby Fund communication to a Stanford-Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital little boy and his family to enjoy Great America’s “Family Friendly” Spirit of Halloween event with Nickelodeon…and something extra to make it a time of his life!.
1) Please click on the Journal History tab and scroll to the June 10, 2007 entry for a snapshot of the Nicholas Colby Fund's first year: the patients, children's hospitals, events/experiences, and our partners/organizations who have helped us along the way
2) We invite you to leave a guest book entry by clicking on the View Guestbook tab
3) Please click on View Photos to see 3 pictures (photo albums of our events and experiences are accessible below under the heading "Nicholas Colby Fund Pictures" and other photo albums are toward the bottom of this Home Page under Links)
In memory of our beautiful son, Nicholas Colby Gilbert, who will continue to vibrantly live in all of our lives, a non-profit Nicholas Colby Fund was established. (More information about the Nicholas Colby Fund - "Helping Children Be Children" - will soon be provided, including transition to NicholasColbyFund.org along with replication of this current site that is underway.)
Here is a snapshot:
PURPOSE - Why the Nicholas Colby Fund exists A non-profit organization "Helping Children Be Children", focusing on those with cancer, a degenerating condition, or other life-threatening illness
MISSION - Objectives capturing the essence of what the Nicholas Colby Fund is accomplishing Help create lasting childhood memories by providing exceptional playful opportunities that uplift the spirit of a child diagnosed with cancer, a degenerating condition, or other life-threatening illness. With awareness and sensitivity deliver amazing experiences for children and their families through trusted acts of love, compassion, and fun, "Helping Children Be Children"
WHO WE ARE - Facilitators of the Nicholas Colby Fund Founded in 2006, by Gina Baker (a dear friend of the Gilbert family) and established by Lamont Gilbert, Sheila Gilbert, & Gina Baker
TAX-DEDUCTABLE DONATIONS MAY BE MADE TO: Nicholas Colby Fund 1547 Palos Verdes Mall, PMB 260 Walnut Creek, CA 94597-2228
WELCOME AND THANK YOU FOR VISITING NICHOLAS' WEBSITE Welcome to Nicholas' Web Page - read and see about our little-sunshine's love! Youngest of 4 boys, Nicholas - truly - illuminates with rays of sunshine that warms your heart. His strength, energy, enthusiasm, joy, & endless passion for caring about others are amazing
Referring to the "Journal History", "View Guestbook", and photo albums before/during the diagnosis/treatment & Nicholas Colby Fund events/experience, provide lots of loving touches of love, inspirational stories, testimonials uplifting spirits and delivering smiles, and pictures that tell a beautiful story of time before and time today
ABOUT NICHOLAS COLBY GILBERT Nicholas' Biography
Nicholas Colby Gilbert was born on January 27, 2000 and lived in Lafayette, California. He was a vibrant and happy little boy enjoying all the beautiful relationships: neighbors, school, and broader Bay Area connections that helped shape his life. Nicholas spent vacations in common/uncommon destinations for children & families in California as well as Hawaii; Vancouver & Montreal, Canada; Nevada; and Colorado.
Our precious little sunshine passed away following a year and a half battle with Leukemia on May 25, 2006. Nicholas was surrounded by family and lots of friends creating a warm, wonderful, and peaceful atmosphere filling the air with love as he ascended to Heaven. Nicholas was a beautiful son, the perfect little brother, grandson, nephew, cousin, and friend...still blessing us all today with his rays of sunshine continually warming our hearts.
- In May 2002, at the age of 2 1/2 Nicholas started preschool at Diablo Valley Montessori School - On November 19, 2004 Nicholas was diagnosed with high-risk acute lymphoblastic leukemia (A.L.L.) - Intense chemotherapy started the following morning...and the 1st full day of the leukemia journey - In mid-December 2004 he was diagnosed further with Hypodiploid-A.L.L...a rare chromosome abnormality in the cancer cells meaning a bone marrow transplant was his best chance for a cure - On April 7, 2005 Nicholas received a matched-unrelated-donor bone marrow transplant - On September 5, 2005 the cancer returned - relapse - despite the bone marrow transplant - Nicholas' leukemia journey took him from Children's Hospital Oakland, Stanford-Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH), The Children's Hospital-Denver, Colorado, and back to LPCH - On May 23, 2006, during ongoing treatment, Nicholas contracted an infection that took his life on May 25, 2006
NICHOLAS IN PICTURES Please go to "Links" below the current journal toward the bottom of the Home Page to access three albums containing pictures from before Nicholas' diagnosis and during treatment. See Nicholas' loving, vibrant spirit illuminating our world and the world through his far reaching touch
RECAP OF THE NICHOLAS COLBY FUND'S FIRST YEAR (JUNE 2006 - JUNE 2007) Please refer to the June 10, 2007 journal entry under Journal History for a recap about the patients, hospitals, events, and partners / organizations as Nicholas' love and your love are Helping Children Be Children
NICHOLAS COLBY FUND PICTURES (just copy & paste the following links into your browser) Nicholas Colby Fund Begins www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hzm3iu6.8g4xdcqe&x=1&y=95eth4
Nicholas Colby Fund Christmas 2006 www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hzm3iu6.4hcasgke&x=1&y=-cexgvd
Nicholas Colby Fund 1st Quarter 2007 www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hzm3iu6.5fjsrxh2&x=1&y=l9mqah
Nicholas Colby Fund 2nd Quarter 2007 http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hzm3iu6.bqwzr5sm&x=1&y=-u2np5x
Nicholas Colby Fund 3rd Quarter 2007 http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hzm3iu6.byq6bxd2&x=1&y=gcteh1
Nicholas Colby Fund 4th Quarter 2007 http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=hzm3iu6.a2d1ocd6&x=1&y=k8tivi
PICTURE/STORY BOOK ABOUT NICHOLAS To view the PICTURE/STORY BOOK about Nicholas' journey that was created by friends Tina and Mitch, please copy and paste the following link into your browser. You will see Nicholas in ways you have seen, in ways you have not seen, with many of you, and words to be heard and shared for evermore. All of what we see, feel, hear, touch, and smell that gives us joy is from God and because God is God...He enables Nicholas to forever live so wonderfully in our lives...Nicholas knew he was loved and surely must know that he is so loved today:
NICHOLAS' SONG OF LOVE Please refer to the September 7, 2005 journal entry for the words to Nicholas' song of love playing in the background (if your speakers are on and volume turned up you can hear it now as you are reading this message)
RECAP OF OUR "ONE MORE DAY" WITH NICHOLAS The atmosphere and environment on May 25, 2006 helped Nicholas to know he was loved. Feelings are recapped in the July 25, 2006 journal marking two months since Nicholas has passed
RECAP OF THE "CELEBRATION OF LIFE" A recap of the June 2, 2006 Celebration of Nicholas' Life can be experienced via the June 2 through June 19, 2006 journal entries under Journal History
***And pictures of the "program," sharing about Nicholas' life and details on how the services took flight are on the third album below (then scroll to 6/2/06)***
SONGS FROM THE JUNE 2, 2006 CELEBRATION OF LIFE CAN NOW BE HEARD AGAIN While the transition to the NicholasColbyFund.org site is still underway, you can again experience songs from the June 2, 2006 Memorial Service and Celebration of Life on the NicholasColbyFund.org site.
Please go to www.NicholasColbyFund.org, select the "Sound Tracks" page, and then click on any of the songs to experience them again. The www.NicholasColbyFund.org site will soon be the primary website used for Nicholas and The Nicholas Colby Fund.
And titles of the songs and names of the respective artists are listed in the September 13, 2006 journal.
VIDEO AT THE VIEWING SERVICE Following is the web address to view the June 1, 2006 Viewing Service video that was playing at Oakmont the night before the Celebration of Life services held on June 2, 2006. This video primarily shows Nicholas & family members, captions, and includes quiet music enabling soothing reflection moments. Please copy and paste the following address into your browser:
- www.mem.com/Story.aspx?ID=1378014
- Select "Movie" under the menu bar on the right side of the page
- Turn your PC speakers on and you will then hear, see and have another opportunity to reflect on the love surrounding Nicholas
(This video is not the Video Tribute that was shown during the June 2, 2006 Memorial Service.)
NICHOLAS' FLAT MEMORIAL MARKER Referring to the third photo album below, under "Links," scrolling to 9/22/06 and 11/11/06 you can view Nicholas' flat memorial marker on his site at Oakmont Memorial Park in Lafayette. A heart shape frame holding his picture lasered onto marble, Cherub emblem, & balloons emblem...love expressed and felt (other pictures are throughout the NCF photo albums)
NICHOLAS' OAKMONT MEMORIAL SITE Also referring to the third photo album below, you can view the site and how we transition it for Nicholas by scrolling to 6/6/06, 6/17/06, 6/19/06, 6/24/06, 10/22/06, 11/11/06, and 11/21/06 showing the standing marker and uplifting words on the front and back (and pictures are throughout the NCF photo albums)
THE JOURNEY High Risk B-Precursor, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) - Diagnosed 11/19/04
In remission (free of cancer) from 11/29/04
Hypodiploid, "Very High Risk" B-Precursor ALL - Diagnosed mid-12/04 Reason for the bone marrow transplant (BMT)
BMT on 4/7/05-God bless the donor 6 of 6 matched unrelated donor (MUD)
Relapsed: 9/12/05
News we feared, initial-relapse-treatment failure: please refer to journal dated 10/26/05
Partial Remission-great progress: 11/28/05
Doctors report a relapse: 1/18/06
Progress, 85percent blasts (cancer cells) in bone marrow 1/18/06 is now at 40percent: 3/1/06
Awful medical news; continued calmness leaning on God: 4/6/06
Progress, blasts in bone marrow are now down from 90percent on 4/6/06 to 40percent: 5/8/06
And God's omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence is EVERYTHING toward Nicholas' healing, the manifestation of love within God's perfect creation: today and every day
Heaven: 5/25/06 at 12:52pm PST
NICHOLAS' STAR IN THE SKY Through the International Star Registry, on 5/25/06, a star was registered for Nicholas with the name "Nicholas Colby" and the coordinates are: Hercules RA 18h 18m 23.34s D15° 49’ 14.52”
NICHOLAS' FAVORITE THINGS Please refer to the August 15, 2006 journal entry for a list of Nicholas' favorite things
SONG: "HE'S MY SON" Please refer to the January 6, 2006 journal entry for the words to "He's My Son." And you can place "hometown.aol.com/sunnyasalways/SUNNYSHESMYSON.html" into your browser to hear this touching song and prayer
ANOTHER SONG: "IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW" Please refer to the July 31, 2006 journal entry for the words to this song and its poignant expressions...Nicholas is with God and at Jesus' feet
Journal
Sunday, November 11, 2007 11:17 AM CST
***SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT***
Remember how we talked about transitioning to Nicholas' new website (www.nicholascolbyfund.org)? Well, the new website will go live in 1 week. You can get a peak now by going to www.nicholascolbyfund.org:
See the logo against a beautiful blue sky.
A new Home Page will replace the content that currently shows on the Home Page/Welcome Page when accessing www.nicholascolbyfund.org now. However, all of the other content is up live (our web designer is making a few word changes and adding 7 pictures on the About Us > Acknowledgments page).
When you access the new website, notice:
1) The main menu bar: Welcome, About Us, About Nicholas, What We Do, Donate, Participate, Contact Us
2) There are sub-menu bars after selecting About Us, About Nicholas
3) There are drop down menu items to select when scrolling over What We Do, Participate
4) You will go directly to the respective content when you select Donate, Contact Us
5) About Us, About Nicholas, in addition to its sub-menu items there are drop down menu items
6) That for the drop down menu items for ABOUT US three of the drop down menu items ("Celebrating Life," "Nicholas' Memorial Service and Celebration of Life," and "Sound Tracks") and drop down menu items for PARTICIPATE two of the drop down menu items (Journal, Guestbook), each have respective side menu item selections
Special notes:
5a) After Selecting About Nicholas, each of its sub-menu items have a corresponding picture of Nicholas. For example, selecting About Nicholas > Nicholas' Star In The Sky, you will see his actual star that was registered as "Nicholas Colby"
6a) After selecting "Nicholas' Memorial Service and Celebration of Life" you will be able to access the actual speeches, songs, and poems delivered by the speakers as well as a corresponding picture of each speaker
General Notes:
Remember to scroll down all the pages to thoroughly browse and enjoy the richness of the content that more fully reveals our work of "Helping Children Be Children". You will find surprises:
1) For example, like a Proclamation after selecting What We Do > Sponsors and Partners, and scrolling all the way down its content
2) For example, a personal message from me, Sheila, and Gina after selecting About Us, and scrolling down as you look under the heading titled "Nicholas Colby Fund Facilitators...seeing the content and a picture for each of us
Or in other words, we truly hope that you just enjoy as we all reflect on love in the ways that we do..."Helping Children Be Children".
Please save this new site as a favorite and check back to www.nicholascolbyfund.org in 1 week as the new website goes live...with pictures, songs, and love wonderfully integrated helping Nicholas' legacy to fly and the love of other children connecting…for other children.
Patient Room: HEAVEN & in ours and your hearts and lives
Oakmont Memorial Park; Lafayette, CA (flat marker in 3rd album under Links, scroll to 9/22/06) The Children's Hospital-Denver, CO: Experimental Treatment Stanford-Lucile Packard Children's Hospital; Palo Alto, CA: BMT and Relapse Treatment Children's Hospital Oakland, CA: Diagnosis and Treatment Leading to Remission
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