Kade was a sweet boy with a big heart who brought so much love and light to his family’s lives. In partnership with Sanford Child Life Specialists, we honor his memory and celebrate the birthday he never got to have by hosting birthday parties that bring fun, laughter, and a little extra joy to children and families who need it most.
Kade was born on February 26th 2015, in the following days he was diagnosed with advanced stage Rhabdomyosarcoma. It was extremely tough news for us to receive during a time that we were also very excited to have him joining our family. That diagnosis started a battle with cancer that included multiple chemotherapy treatments, hospital stays, and surgeries over the next few months.
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While we set out intent to do whatever was needed to treat Kade’s cancer, we also wanted him, as well as our daughters Molly and Cally who were 7 and 4 at the time, to continue living life as normal as possible. During that time the staff at the Roger Maris Cancer Center as well as the Sanford Children’s Hospital in Fargo played a huge role in our lives as we all spent a good portion of time with them. Kade was very loved and well cared for throughout his journey, and that care extended to all the rest of us as well. Molly and Cally had a great relationship with all the doctors and nurses and were also able to spend time with the Sanford Child Life Specialists who related well with them and explained a lot of the processes and surgeries that Kade would be going through in a way kids would understand.
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During that spring and summer, it just so happened that extended hospital stays for Kade coincided with both of the girls’ birthdays, including July 29th, which is Molly’s birthday and also the day that Kade lost his battle with cancer. The Child Life Staff was instrumental in helping by organizing Birthday Parties for them at the hospital to help bring some sort of normalcy during the toughest times of all of our lives.
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This happened well before I joined the Lighthouse Commodities Team, but when the Birthday Beacon became a very important cause for Lighthouse, I was very excited about the opportunity to give back as a way to honor Kade’s Birthday each year since he was never able to enjoy a Birthday Party of his own. The partnership with the Fargo Sanford Childlife Specialists makes it even more rewarding as I have witnessed first hand the kind of support that they offer to children and families of children who are fighting battles that no one should have to go through.