G does the big smoke

Georgia is doing fine. She’s learned about ‘Hi’ and ‘Bye’, which was a great source of entertainment on our train trip to Toronto last week—she was like a miniature queen, heading down the aisle, waving to her beloved subjects.

I took the day off, and Sydney, Georgia and I met my sister Rhonda in Toronto to spend a day together. This week’s trip was prompted by an invitation to a James Fund tour of the laboratory at the Sick Kids hospital in Toronto where they are doing research on neuroblastoma—the ugliest word in the world, as another mother told me that day.

Melanie, that mother, was the most striking person I met that day. A petite woman, holding herself together for her little girl, she showed me the true meaning of courage and strength. No soldier or politician or lion tamer could claim bravery in the face of battle that this mother shows. Her beautiful daughter is about the same age as Sydney and fighting recurrent cancer—the odds are against them but I sincerely hope they win—please keep both of them in your thoughts.

Highlights of our trip:

Georgia playing ‘make faces’ with a teenager dressed in black clothes, with a pierced lip. They played the game, with Georgia leading the way, for about 15 minutes. When Georgia pulled the finger-in-the-nose trick, the girl laughed and said “Well, she found one I won’t do.”

The four of us (Rhonda, Sydney, Georgia and I) sitting for photos in the little instant photo booth at Toronto’s Union Station.

Georgia at the Royal Ontario Museum, as she watched a girl with cerebral palsy brushing the sand off a ‘dinosaur bone’ in the children’s discovery area.

Thanks to all of you for your support, your prayers and your replies. Some days, the love and concern that surrounds us is what keeps us going.

We’ll be heading up to CHEO in Ottawa tonight for the next MRI recheck tomorrow—staying at Ronald Mcdonald house tonight. Syd decided to stay with her grandpa, once she learned that RM house is NOT a huge playland.

Cheers.