Wall of Courage

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Thank you Angela Meek for taking these great photos!

Yesterday, Gregg and I joined the family of Hannah Hunt at Seattle Children’s Hospital’s Bargain Boutique on Bainbridge Island for the unveiling of Katie’s and Hannah’s portraits on the boutique’s Wall of Courage.

The Bargain Boutique is a treasure trove – a fabulous thrift store, whose proceeds all benefit uncompensated care at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Last year they donated $500,000 to the hospital!

The Wall of Courage contains portraits of local children who have been treated at the hospital. Brief biographies of the children are also available for reading in the store. Yesterday was the day that Hannah’s portrait and Katie’s portrait were revealed to the public, with a party for all who attended. I was asked to say a few words, so I spoke briefly about the family-centered care that our families received, and about what both of our families have done in gratitude for that care and current developments at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Hannah Hunt was a beautiful girl who was diagnosed with a brain tumor shortly after Katie passed away. The Hunt/Ferguson family has established Hannah’s Hopeful Hearts, a charity that supports brain tumor research. Another family member created Hannah’s Hopeful Hats, which makes hats for cancer patients who have lost their hair. Hannah’s mother Reba has become a friend of mine.

If you are not a regular reader here, you can find out about the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research (see the sidebar here) and Katie’s Comforters Guild (also on the sidebar) and the various projects I’ve undertaken in the past few years by reading my blog. If you're a regular here, you already know.

We are deeply thankful to the staff of the Bargain Boutique and to the members of our community who joined us at the unveiling yesterday. Thank you for honoring the memory of our beautiful girls in this way!
The local paper covered this event here.

"Beloved:  Bear your share of hardship for the gospel with the strength that comes from God. He saved us and called us to a holy life, not according to our works but according to his own design and the grace bestowed on us in Christ Jesus before time began, but now made manifest through the appearance of our savior Christ Jesus, who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." - 2 Tm 1:8b-10

     "All you can pass on is what you have become; that is your blessing and gift for your children, your loved ones, your neighborhood, and the next generation, “grace upon grace” (John 1:16). Divine love bestowed is repaid by love alone.
     "Our lives seem small and insignificant, yet one life is a significant piece of the eternal and cosmic Christ, a short moment of Incarnation that is building up the Body of God.
     "You belong to God’s universe because everything belongs. Every part of you belongs, and no part need be rejected or denied, but only educated, healed, forgiven, and set free in new form. . . .
     "Nothing is ever wasted in God’s economy. All is transformed. Grace is everywhere." - Adapted from On the Threshold of Transformation, by Richard Rohr