CURE - For Marco

When I was pregnant with Lukas I was lucky to make a new girlfriend, Emily.  We met through our mutual friend Tedra and our first outing together was to the Dragon Con parade (our husbands are all self-professed dorks) and then we had brunch in Inman Park.  Emily and I were both first time mommies-to-be and were pregnant with little boys due within a month of each other.  We got to know each other during the last few months of our pregnancies and Emily's son Marco was born exactly 3 weeks after Lukas.  The boys had play dates together and we often went out to eat or shopping at consignment sales.  I was thrilled when we found out that Marco and Lukas would be in the same "class" at Primrose.  Marco was one of the original "boys club" members in Infant 4.  He had a beautiful smile and was such a sweet baby. 

The rest of Marco's story is hard to write.  Marco was diagnosed with brain cancer at the end of August and passed away shortly thereafter.  His time here was far too brief and his parents have gone through every parent's worst nightmare.

In honor of Marco, Emily and her husband Chris have put together TEAM MARCO to help raise money to Cure Childhood Cancer and participate in the 2012 Lauren's Run and CURE Annual Picnic.  Mr. Cob and I will both be running in the race in honor and in memory of Marco.

Any donation you can give to help find a cure to childhood cancer is greatly appreciated.  You can donate by clicking on this link: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/ryanswanson/18th-annual-laurens-run

To read more about Marco's story, please read his eulogy below.

"Marco passed away on September 12th in the loving arms of his mom and dad. He was comfortable and peaceful.


It is hard to eulogize a nine-month old. Undoubtedly, many of the adorable things we loved about Marco are just the things that most babies do. He put ridiculous things in his mouth; the phone, furniture, the edge of the carpet. He hated having his nose cleaned. He grabbed at glasses and hair like they were candy. He grinned and giggled when mom and dad came in the room.

We loved Marco even more for those little things that made him Marco. He was constantly twirling his ankles with a serious look on his face, as if he were loosening up for some future workout. He found it funny when he sneezed. It would always make him laugh. He was easily comforted and never inconsolable, and he smiled frequently with his wide-open toothless grin. If you took a toy from him, he would never cry - he would just give you a look that said, "whatever, dude," and go on about his business.

Marco is leaving us after a very short time. He never walked and even his crawling was pretty suspect - we called his crawling attempts "skydiving" because of the way he lifted and shook all four limbs from his tummy, without moving an inch. He never said his first word. De said "Dada" all the time, but he probably never quite knew what it meant. He never got the hang of eating solid food. We'd never taught him anything or disciplined him or any of that. All of that was still in the future.

All we got to do was to hold him, and to care for him, and to love him, and just for a little while. And yet we can say without hesitation that he brought us the best year of our life. We did not understand that you could love like this before we met Marco. Marco made everything shiny. He invested every task, no matter how mundane, with purpose and meaning. And the sorrow we feel cannot overtake the joy that he brought.

Thank you all for your love and support.

Chris and Emily"