I seriously do not know how I worked at MAW for so many years and didn't become mentally unstable. I'm not even kidding. No matter how much we are exposed to death, it sucks. It sucks when you're expecting it and it sucks when it catches you off guard. It just plain sucks!!
Today as I scrolled through Facebook like I do every morning; I started seeing photos of my friend Peyton Arnold...and tears started pouring down my face because without reading one single post.........I know exactly what had happened.
Another amazing young man received his angel wings
way too soon in life. Peyton was only 18-years-old. Many of you may have
seen him on the news recently where his high school in Dickson had an early
graduation to ensure he was well enough to graduate with his classmates. Peyton was originally
diagnosed in 2009 with Leukemia and relapsed in 2014.
When I think about Peyton, my heart smiles. He started a
Facebook page back in November called Cancer Awareness Month. After just 4 days
he had over 1000 "likes" on his page, it took me over a year to get
1,000 "likes" on the Dreams and Wishes page! Peyton created this FB page to spread the
word about cancer and he wanted to also help spread the word about Dreams and
Wishes for me, which I thought was absolutely precious!
In the beginning I thought he was just raising money for
cancer research and I messaged him to tell him how amazing what he was doing
was. This was our conversation. I copied it from Facebook.
Peyton
"It is but I was actually thinking of giving half to research and half
to your foundation to help people be able to do things like I did bc what you
do is so important to kids especially".
Tanya
"Awwww...you gave me tears. That's precious of you. ❤️😊I'll ask around and see what I can find out on who is the best to donate to for research. I'll help you spread the word or whatever I can do. Just let me know.
I just wanna hug you right now! You are precious!"😊
Peyton
"Thank you. I really appreciate everything you have
done for me. More than you know"
What a precious 18-year-old right? Not only does he have his own cancer fight
going on, but he wants to help with awareness. We wrote up a post and started
asking everyone to spread the word on social media. His goal was to get this to Ellen. I kept
him updated the first few days on how many times our post had been shared on
Facebook...I eventually lost count.
I had told him that our post had been shared over 100 times
within the first hour! And
this my friends......this response from Peyton is WHY I DO WHAT I DO.
That made my heart smile soooo BIG. Really?? His Dreams and Wishes wish made him happier than his Make-A-Wish??? His MAW was absolutely amazing! He went to NY
and met the Yankees and for him to say that......I can't even describe the love
I felt inside for this kid!
A few weeks ago one of the most thoughtful, courageous, inspirational people I've EVER met passed away. Corey Stevens was truly someone that genuinely wanted to make a difference in other people's lives. We last spoke about 4 weeks before he passed. I could almost hear his heart smiling when I told him that I tell his story to people all of the time. I told him that sooo many people I met actually have had interaction with him at some point at clinic. I also told him that I've had so many people tell me that he inspired and motivated their child who was also going through cancer treatments. He was also an inspiration to people in general, not just the ones battling cancer. Before we ended our conversation he told me "Tanya, you don't know how happy that makes me for you to have told me this".
After all, Corey battled cancer ELEVEN times.....that's hero stuff right there! I've met a lot of people over the years with cancer, and never once have I met anyone that fought cancer as many times as Corey; nor have I met anyone that even though they have so much going on in their lives with their own battle they continue to want to motivate other people.
I am happy that Corey has now reunited with his mom and brother Joshua, he loved and missed them so much. I am also deeply saddened that he has left this earth because we really need more people like Corey around here....actually we need more kids like both Peyton and Corey. Corey, you will be truly missed by so many and I hope with all of my heart that you knew how many lives you touched.
Something that was very important to Corey was motivation and inspiration. He wanted to motivate people and share his journey with others and that's just what he did. I encourage each of you to Google Corey Stevens vlog through cancer and watch his videos as he shares his cancer journey. Dreams and Wishes has been working with Dream Young on a walk that will take place soon in Clarksville, TN. I first introduced Corey and Jeremy (Dream Young) last year. They both had the same mission in life, to motivate and inspire people to be the best they can be. Our goal for this run was to have Corey at the walk speaking about his cancer journey. Jeremy and I are working on making this Clarksville run a memory run for Corey. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for more information about The Chase Your Dreams Run.
I'm sooooo freaking angry at cancer! I HATE cancer! I'm angry that ANOTHER amazing young life has been cut short due to stupid cancer. I'm also angry that I procrastinated and didn't go visit Peyton on Monday as I had planned to do last week. I put it off until Thursday, and now Thursday is too late.
With that being said, I want to remind you to not put off telling a friend or loved one how your feel. Don't put off going to see someone you haven't visited in a while and definitely, don't hold grudges like I hear so many people do over something that's truly meaningless. If you only remember one thing from this post, please remember that we are NOT promised a tomorrow!
"Cause you never think the last time is gonna be the last time; you think there will be more. You think you have forever, but you don't".
RIP Peyton Arnold and Corey Stevens...you will never be forgotten. <3
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