On February 19, 2012 I gave birth to the two most beautiful children, Wyatt and Olivia. Wyatt arrived first at 3:04 p.m. and Olivia just after at 3:05 p.m. Although my birth was pretty scary due to sever preeclampsia I was overjoyed that my twins were finally here and I was so excited to meet them. 

Little did I know the journey life would take us all on. Wyatt and Olivia spent a month in the NICU. Then came home on oxygen. And then at just 4 months old Olivia began the fight for her life against brain cancer. She fought an incredibly hard battle, enduring chemo, multiple surgeries, epilepsy, developmental delays, and right side weakness. She beat the monster once and on her first birthday she was in remission. We had a huge birthday party for the twins in our hometown and celebrated their lives, believing whole-heartedly that we would have many years together that would no longer be about cancer and chemo.

Unfortunately just a few short months later, Olivia’s brain cancer was back and the tumor was even bigger and more aggressive than before. We tried 4 more months of chemo and did everything we could, but she passed away on October 22, 2013. She is forever 20 months, 3 days and 4 hours old.

It is impossible to explain the heartache of giving birth to a beautiful child and thinking that you will have a long lifetime together, when in reality they will be called Home far too soon. I can’t believe that we are here today, just one year after their big first birthday, and Olivia is in Heaven and we can’t celebrate with her. Brain cancer is so unfair!

And so today I dragged myself out of bed and put on a smile because today is still Wyatt and Olivia’s birthday and I want to celebrate their lives. Their amazing lives and strong spirits. My little warriors…Olivia fought cancer like a true champion and Wyatt battles juvenile diabetes every day. I am so proud of them!

I ask you today to be thankful for your children. Hug them. Hold them close. Tell them you love them. And please don’t turn a blind eye to pediatric cancer. It is real and it could happen to your family! In fact, there are 91,000 families across the world that will celebrate their child’s birthday for the first time this year after they have passed away due to childhood cancer. Please help me to honor my daughter and the countless other cancer warriors that have lost their battles and donate to the Olivia Caldwell Foundation for pediatric brain cancer research today. You don’t need to donate a lot to make a difference. Could you spare $5? What about $10? Imagine the impact we could make if 1,000 people donated $10 today? That would raise $10,000 for pediatric brain cancer research! And all the people that donate to our foundation through the end of the day today will be put into a drawing for one free t-shirt and one free wristband. Please help us save lives!

The Olivia Caldwell Foundation is a pending 501c3 nonprofit that raises money for pediatric brain cancer research. You can learn more and donate by visiting our website at www.oliviacaldwellfoundation.org.