A Magical Moment found through Braces

First let me apologize that it has been a while since I have written. It has been busy and a lot is going. I am working on an annual report which is needed for Guidestar certification which will be a good way to recap our accomplishments for everyone. In the meantime, I just experienced a magical moment and I had to share. This is not the first magical moment since I started this journey but I am committing to being better about documenting them. I want to share them and I certainly don't want to ever take them for granted or forget them.

Our 13 year old daughter, Mackenna, has had top braces since November. Today, she went to the Orthodontist to have her bottom braces put on her teeth. Vince took her to her appointment. During dinner, Vince and Mackenna were telling me that Dr. Nay (at Dr. Kent and Associates in Raleigh) and one of the Dental Hygenists shaved their heads for St. Baldrick's. I asked them if the office knew about Colleen. Considering both Mackenna and Vince are pretty shy, it did not surprise me that neither of them had shared Colleen's story.

After dinner, Dr. Nay called to check on Mackenna. I answered the phone and we chatted for a few minutes about her teeth and her new braces. At the end of our discussion, I said "I heard that you shaved your head for St. Baldrick's.". He said "Yes". He proceeded to briefly tell me about the experience and about how his 3 year old son who hates getting his haircut ended up joining him on his lap and ended up getting shaved too. After he told me about his experience, I thanked him for supporting St. Baldrick's and I told him about Colleen. He expressed his condolences and politely asked me some questions. What kind of cancer did she have? What was her primary tumor site? What was her prognosis? How much time did you have with her? All the while being very polite making sure that I was comfortable answering the questions. I briefly thought.. wow, he seems to know a lot of the lingo for an orthodontist.  I then went on to tell him about Striving for More and what our mission and motivation is.

When I was done. He said it is interesting that we are talking about this today. He said 16 years ago today, I lost my brother to Osteosarcoma and his diagnosis and prognosis was very similiar to Colleen's.

It was sad to hear about another child stuck down by this disease and I am sure that Dr. Nay is hurting today, on the anniversary of his brother's death. However, what are the chances that we would have this conversation on this day. It is divine intervention. It is magical moment in this journey that I am on. After I hung up, I told Mackenna that her orthodontist lost his brother to Osteosarcoma. The look on her face was priceless (she suddenly didn't feel so alone, someone she knows went through exactly the same thing she is going through).

Today was a good day.