When you have a child, a single year suddenly has a whole new meaning.

0-1 = your needy sack of pooping potatoes turns in to a happy, wobbling and babbling miniature human.

1-2 = your happy, wobbling and babbling miniature human turns in to a laughing running firecracker holding a match just under their wick… seemingly delightful yet threatening to explode at any minute.

I am just at the beginning of 2-3, so that is as far as my brilliant analogies go for now. But having experienced two years with a little human, who is a hilarious blend of my husband and myself, I can only imagine how much more intensely we will love this Dr Jekylle and Mr Hyde character by the time he is four.

Which is why I lose it every time I think about this family who just found out that their four-year-old little boy has stage four cancer and that they will have to spend the next year hoping with all their hearts that chemotherapy and radiation will be enough to cure their son.

Until I heard the news about this family, I didn’t realize that discovering something is terribly wrong with my child has become my biggest fear. You just don’t think something like this will happen to someone you know, and you certainly don’t think it will ever happen to you. Arann said tonight that he couldn’t do it. He doesn’t think he is strong enough.

Luckily the Porrata-Powell family is incredibly strong and they are extremely well-loved by their community. But it is going to be a very long year as they try to make life as normal as possible for their little family, while simultaneously fighting the biggest fight of their lives… so any extra love and support they can get from outside of their community will be hugely appreciated.

To learn more about this lovely family and to see how you can help, please click here: http://www.ezpowell.org/