Taylor Morgan Rivera, a 14 year old girl from Pueblo, Colorado lost her life this past week and she was laid to rest yesterday morning. Taylor was one of my heroes with cancer, unlike many of these patients I didn’t know Taylor that well, but her waves of friendship, love, and pure care spread to thousands. Her best friend Kennedy was the first cancer patient I met at Denver Children’s Hospital as a volunteer. Taylor has a family, two loving parents, and two younger brothers. This is truly a perfect family torn apart by cancer. Taylor was a sweetheart; she was selfless and compassionate, she was strong and determined – she really was the perfect child.

Her funeral service was completely full, filling the chapel and flowing out into the hallway as people stood trying to hear her life honored – hundreds of vehicles filled her procession. I got to sit with my closest friends in the childhood cancer community. Halfway through the funeral, my good friend Amanda (a young 12 year old girl facing a blood disease and cancer) reached her hand out to mine, moved to sit next to me, and held me as her eyes filled with tears. A foot in front of me, in the forward row, Kennedy (one of my heroes) sat with her family feeling the loss of her best friend. It was a situation that almost made me completely loose it! This isn’t RIGHT; this isn’t how families should live but even though they are faced with these horrors of life, they are the most positive, uplifting and loving people you’ll ever meet.

Taylor was a beautiful girl – a girl who had hopes and dreams and lost her battle to cancer. It’s not right, it’s not fair and it is absolutely wrong. I will live my life every day making sure her memory is never forgotten. I will vow to make sure her suffering leads to a cure. Who’s with me? I call on the richest most influential people on earth to step in and choose to save these children – please.

For me, well – this was hard, but my experience is nothing compared to the pain Taylor’s family will endure. For today, I do my best to remember all the good Taylor brought to this world and what she fought for always keeping her sweet spirit in my life.

Taylor, I love you – I will miss you, and I am so thankful to have been at your celebration of life yesterday morning.

This was just tragic...