Posted on 12/18/2008 6:33:45 AM PST by No_Way_A_Liberal
Ill child has Christmas wish -- cards, and plenty of them
BY TOM KNAPP, Intelligencer Journal Staff
Hannah Garman wants to celebrate Christmas in a very big way.
But the plucky 4-year-old -- she will turn 5 in January -- was diagnosed in late October with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor, in her cerebellum.
The prognosis, according to her grandmother, Shirley Garman, is not good. "The tumor is very aggressive," Mrs. Garman said. "It is not something they can take away."
The Garman family is working overtime not to dwell on grim reality. Mrs. Garman said they'd rather focus on the positive aspects of Christmastime.
And that means Christmas cards for Hannah.
Lots of Christmas cards.
It would mean the world to a little girl who wants to play and jump and run but has lost most of her basic motor skills.
"She's basically lying in bed," Mrs. Garman said Wednesday. "She's not the same little girl she was."
Hannah has always liked to play, the proud grandmother said. "She ran like the wind. She didn't like to lie around; this is hard because she was always so active."
But now -- despite three surgeries and other treatments at Johns Hopkins and Hershey medical centers and plans to begin chemotherapy and radiation treatments later this month -- the Garmans are measuring Hannah's remaining time in weeks.
And they want to make sure those weeks are good ones.
"Three or four days ago, her spirits were very low," Mrs. Garman said. "But now she's happy and smiling. She's been like a changed girl through all of this. But some of it's coming back.
"She's just a sweetheart."
Opening Christmas cards is "one thing she can do," Mrs. Garman said. "She's a little stronger, and she's ripping them open herself. She loves looking at the pictures, and we read every card to her."
Hannah's family -- father Darin and siblings Jordan, 9, and Brittany, 12 -- lives in Lititz. Hannah lives close by with her grandparents, Shirley and Bob Garman, who provide care while Hannah's dad is working. Hannah's mother died two years ago of breast cancer.
The family has already received about 700 cards. Hannah's room is filled with them.
Many more will be presented to Hannah this evening at a gathering at Lititz Area Mennonite School.
"I've heard 30 fire trucks are coming," Mrs. Garman said.
According to an announcement from Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center, 25 to 30 fire and other emergency-response vehicles will gather outside the hospital at 6:30 p.m. before proceeding in a convoy to the school with "thousands and thousands" of cards to deliver to Hannah.
Warwick Township police will escort the caravan, and many county residents will ride along to deliver their cards in person.
Additional cards can be mailed to Hannah Garman at 704 Orchard Road, Lititz, PA, 17543.
E-mail: tknapp@lnpnews.com
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Bump.
Prayers to this child and her family.
I hope the child gets her wish - but unfortunately, the day after a family makes this kind of wish known, they must immediately start the process of shutting it down, to stem the flood.
Ours will be in the mail today.
I hope others have the time for the same.
Why does He call the sweet and innocent children to Him waaayyy too soon? After the prior loss of the Mother/Wife...how will this family continue?
Kudos to the communities involved in making this holiday season an example of what it is MEANT to be...not the commercialization of the spirit..the GIVING of the spirit!
I can’t type anymore... my screen has become blurry.
Amen! Prayers for little Hannah and her family.
Well that was the most meaningful card this year I just addressed.
“...how will this family continue?”
Dad has no choice because he has two other children. For the children, losing mom and then a sibling is awful. And for dad, losing his wife and THEN one of the best memories of her — terrible.
Prayerful bttt
BTT
A family close to us is dealing with this. And the good news for them is that Marin (and family) have been surviving and inspiring for five plus years. Marin fell ill when she was 13, and was given a death sentence then. But after two surgeries, partial paralysis, various chemos, etc., Marin managed to qualify for the 2008 Para-Olympics in Beijing. Marin and family made a White house visit after the Olympics and met the Bush family. She is home now with her family in Seattle, trying her best, staying strong, continuing to inspire thousands, even as she now recognizes the battle is lost, and she is in her last days on this earth. She still smiles, and laughs.
Marin grew up with my middle son, and her little sister was my daughter’s best friend - two peas in a pod - until the Morrisons moved to Seattle, away from Atlanta. She swam with our neighborhood and school swim teams, and she was an obvious phenom. Even today though she is 3000 miles away all the kids on our swim and water polo teams compete in every meet with a “M” on their left shoulder — signifying “Swim Marin Strong!”
Through her illness she has been an ongoing inspiration to hundreds of kids. We should all be so strong in spirit.
go to http://www.marinlove.com
watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLlG58CsLuI
(Your Christmas will be brighter if you do)
BTT
To all those who have responded by sending Christmas cards, thank you and God bless.
Take a moment from your day and send a Christmas card. Maybe the delivery of your card will give that moment of strength needed to survive another day.
On 18 December, a caravan of almost 50 emergency-response vehicles gathered in honor of Hannah Garman. The EMS/fire caravan gathered at Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center, then headed to the Lititz Area Mennonite School as the vehicles' lights blazed through the winter dark.
On 18 December, a caravan of almost 50 emergency-response vehicles gathered in honor of Hannah Garman. The EMS/fire caravan gathered at Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center, then headed to the Lititz Area Mennonite School as the vehicles' lights blazed through the winter dark.
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