I know I said I wouldn’t post here anymore, but I felt the need to give an update. This month and the year are big milestones.

It's been exceptionally bittersweet these last few weeks because Deacon would have graduated from high school in the next few days. The past month has been filled with sentimental moments—Mother’s Day, Senior Sundays, prom pictures, and glimpses of the final high school moments shared on social media. However, we got to do something special this past week, and I decided to break my oath and post again.

Deacon of Hope, our organization that we put together in Deacon’s memory, was able to start a new tradition with the awards ceremony for Bullock Creek High School seniors. The Deacon of Hope Award is a $1,000 award to a deserving senior. As I stated in my speech, this isn’t an award a senior applies for or obtains through school GPA and test scores, sports achievements, or music accolades. These award winners are chosen by their individual actions and their ability to persevere through difficult situations, being hope bearers to the world around them.

We initiated this award with Deacon’s graduating class this year. It held special significance to launch it alongside this amazing group of kids, celebrate the graduation milestone with them, and include Deacon in the process. Our deserving recipients, Bailey Wiggins and Marc Woods, have achieved significant milestones and demonstrated resilience in the face of life’s challenges. Beyond their close friendship with Deacon and their shared experiences during his medical journey, their personal qualities align with the award criteria. We take immense pride in presenting them with these well-deserved accolades.

In December 2023, we were able to honor two deserving Greater Midland Camp Counselors nominated by the staff.  While the Community Center did help with the criteria and select the individuals, we worked closely with them on the qualities that we were looking for with the award. The staff and our counterpart Shane, get to make the selection and its always fun to hear, “they have this or that quality, that reminds us a lot of Deacon.” It is special to continue working with them on this – and this year, they get to start camp in the new facility that opened this month. If you remember, we were given the honor to speak about Deacon of Hope at the groundbreaking ceremony.   

Attached are a few pictures of the Deacon of Hope award from the High School Awards Ceremony, featuring Marc and Bailey, alongside Aaron, Everett, and myself. Additionally, we recognize Kaylee Schutte and Zach Nicholas with the Camp Counselor award through Greater Midland Summer Camps. These exceptional individuals embody leadership, mentorship, and hope, all the qualities we loved in Deacon, and we’re immensely proud to honor them.

I also received a special gift from the school and Jennifer Brown this week. All the seniors were able to retrieve the letters they had written to themselves in 5th grade, addressed to their graduating selves. Jennifer asked if I would like Deacon’s letter, and she sent it home with Everett. So, also attached is the picture of Deacon’s letter to himself. As difficult as it was to read, it was absolutely wonderful to have such a surprise. Seeing Deacon’s handwriting on paper brought both tears and a big smile. In some ways, all the things on his list were still his loves. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was the last movie we watched in theaters, and pizza, ice cream, mint, and chocolate remained favorites up until the end. He was the Fantasy Football League champion in December 2021, showing football was his favorite! And in the most technical sense, he attended the University of Michigan (mostly through Mott). 😊 

Over the past year, our family faced another challenging battle with cancer—this time, with Aaron’s dad, whom we sadly lost in October 2023. It’s been a lot for our family to continue to navigate our significant losses, and we strive to move forward while cherishing the memories and gratitude we hold for our loved ones.

In the 16 months since I published my last post, this site has received almost 10,000 additional visits— I find this remarkable in many ways. During Deacon’s illness, there was so much bad news all the time that I was desperate to find the good in all of it and find the stories of others that showed the good. I embarked on a quest to discover stories of resilience, particularly those of the “comeback kids.” However, my search revealed a pattern: most pediatric cancer narratives that had continued to write their story were the ones that ended heartbreakingly. Kids who got better, continued on with life and really no updates, even though they were doing well and were all good. Determined to be a source and spread hope, it was then that I decided I would write a book featuring multiple stories with hopeful endings. After my last post in January 2023,  I didn’t think anyone would want to continue to read our story, especially one that has, yet again, a tragic finale with death. However, the numbers over the last year tell a different story; I have been proven wrong (10,000 times), and in the best way.

I am working hard on my book and look forward to sharing it once it is published. It has truly been a blessing to work through the content; from the amazing and vulnerable interviews of mothers dealing with pediatric illness to my own personal journey, I have learned so much. However, what I have discovered, and maybe even most importantly, is that hope abounds throughout and into the future, no matter the ending.