Steadman Family

March 29th will be the first anniversary of Ben's death. Melinda, Madie, Lily and I will be spending the day together remembering Ben. We've got a couple of private activities planned, but would still love to hear from you if you can catch us.

We'll also be hosting A Celebration Of Ben at 2 PM on Sunday, April 1st out at the memorial garden at the Anschutz Cancer Pavilion at University Hospital. We're having his celebration where he had his radiation treatment and we (with the fund raising help of our neighbor) have a plaque in his memory. The center is closed on Sunday, so you'll need to come around to the building to the garden. We'll have a few fun activities and snacks in addition to the remembrance:

Stuffed Animal Drive - Mr. Bill, the receptionist at the radiation treatment center, is among the many amazing people who helped Ben and us through his fight with brain cancer. He had a really good eye for knowing when Ben was in need of a pick-me-up and would dig a stuffed animal out from his bag. Ben was never too tired or grumpy to take a stuffed animal home with us. We're hoping to keep Mr. Bill's stuffed animal bag full for a while and pass along some love and hugs to the children currently in treatment there. We'll be collecting stuffed animals, tying a yellow ribbon (Ben's favorite color) around them and putting on a short note of hope to the family who gets the animal. Things to keep in mind:

• The animals must be new.
• Nothing bigger than a breadbox. A fifty foot gorilla seems like a good idea until you try to take it into a treatment session.
  

Fund Raising - Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer related deaths in children. We've got a long fight ahead of us and we need your help. Please make a contribution to one of these charities in memory of Ben:

• Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation
• Children's Hospital of Denver

Thanks again for the love and support that you showed to Ben and to our family. We hope to see you on April 1st and hope that you join us in sending some of that love along to other families who need it now.

Sorry that we haven't posted in a while. I've been pretty down as we approach the anniversary of Ben's death and have been swamped at work. And I've felt like crap and haven't wanted to talk about my Dad.

My dad has been diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer. We know that's it's spread into his lymph nodes, but we don't know much more than that until we meet with the oncologists on Monday.