Every year as parents all around the country get their kids ready for the first day of school, sometimes we take for granted the opportunity to have photographs ranging through all the years as they grow up.
For millions of families everywhere we never even imagine losing a child, it never seems like someone so young and so full of energy could ever possibly be ripped away from us, but heartbreakingly one in 285 children will get a cancer diagnosis of some sort, and sometimes those beautiful children will leave us far too early.
Julie Apicella lost her beautiful girl Emily after a three-year battle with cancer, and while this amazing mother got the chance to get a photo of her little girl’s first day of school back in 2015, when it came time to do the same thing the next year it was too late.
Julie took a photo of where her daughter stood a year before, with her future ahead of her, only her daughter wasn’t there anymore. While it’s heartbreaking to realize what this mother must be going through, she somehow had the clarity of mind to write a thoughtful post about never taking things for granted and helping spread awareness of children’s cancer.
The main problem is no one seems to really think about children’s cancer, and without that awareness it doesn’t make much money in the fundraising sense. Precious money needed to fund research to help save more children’s lives. One in 285 is a scary number to think about, but we have to think about it to help kids like Emily.
So if you see anyone with a golden ribbon, you can now know that it’s to help fight children’s cancer. Much like the pink ribbon for breast cancer, it’s time to spread awareness for kids all over the world.
You can actually update your Facebook profile picture with a golden ribbon to help spread awareness with all of your friends on social media! It doesn’t cost a dime, and it gets everyone talking!
Back in 2015, Julie Apicella took a quick photo of her beautiful little girl before her first day of school. Emily had been fighting against cancer for more than two years at this point, so this must have been a fun memory for the whole family.
But the cancer didn’t back down, and though Emily and her whole family did their very best to fight back, sometimes it’s an impossible battle. Emily, at such a young age, succumbed to her illness.
One in 285 children are diagnosed with cancer of some sort but we don’t hear about that fact very much.
It’s understandable in a way, children aren’t meant to get cancer. Children like Emily aren’t meant to get sick, or fight, or go through rounds and rounds of chemo.
Children aren’t meant to die before their parents from some horrible disease. It makes sense that all of us would want to turn away from this fact, you can’t blame people for not wanting to believe it as even being possible.
But it is possible, and it happens every single day. Like it or not, beautiful lives like Emily’s are cut short.
And while the pink ribbon representing breast cancer is very well known, the golden ribbon for children’s cancer is rarely ever seen or thought of.
That’s why Emily’s mom is begging people everywhere to update their profile pictures to the golden ribbon, and to donate to the cause to help so many children in need.
The more popular the golden ribbon becomes, the more people will recognize it. The more people recognize it the more they think about it. The more people think about it the more the cause gets funds donated to it.
The more funds that get donated, then fewer children lose the battle.
So in 2016 Julie snapped a first-day-of-school photo of where little Emily should have been. And while it might seem a bit eerie to think about it all, it’s something that we all should stop and discuss.
Cancer never happens to you or the people you love, it never touches you or your siblings, or your parents, or your children; until it does.
Read Julie’s whole Facebook post and you’ll see why it’s getting shared by so many thousands of people. This message needs to get out there!
Emily was a beautiful soul, and while we’re honestly heartbroken that she won’t get the chance to grow up we can find solace in the fact that her passing might inspire people to stop and think about children’s cancer a bit more.
This message is important. This isn’t some ploy to get more clicks, this is something that can happen to any family anywhere at any time. This is important. Even if you don’t have money to donate, we can all update our profile pictures and spread the word. Maybe someone who does have some extra money will be willing and able to help.
Every year one in 285 children are diagnosed with some form of cancer. While we won’t be able to slow that rate down we can eventually find a way to ensure that none of those children unlucky enough to get it disappear from our homes.
Please SHARE this important message with all of your friends and family!
