I do alot of reflecting when it comes to most situations and this weekend was no different. In fact, the company made it impossible to not stop, look around, and take it all in. Most people that know me, know that my oldest daughter has an autoimmune disease and her body attacks everything, including her own blood cells. This has made her transfusion dependent since 2012. We are treated by an amazing staff at Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s Tomorrow Fund Clinic for Hematology and Oncology in Providence. We are there once a week. We have also met many other families there at clinic. These people have become another family to us. The children play together there in the waiting/play room. They do arts and crafts, play games, and keep each other distracted as much as possible from why they are there in the first place. The parents become close very quickly as well. We know each other’s stories all too well since we are all living a very similar one. We share a common bond. We worry about our children in a way that others don’t understand. Our expenses and time are taken up in a way others are not, but we don’t care as long it helps our kids. We know medical terminology that we wish we didn’t. We can talk with doctors like it’s nobody’s business. We aren’t out to impress anyone; we just know too much. We listen to our children tell us it’s not fair that they feel crappy or that they have to miss out on something that their friends or siblings get to do because they are in a hospital for a day, a week, a month.

There are many activities that the clinic sponsors or gets us information about that are outside of the clinic. They do an amazing job of giving these kids and their families fun times. This past weekend, however, a bunch of clinic mommas decided to do a beach day and cookout at my house together. I am blessed to live in a beautiful area across the street from an amazing beach. So, Sunday, we got seven mom’s and 20 children together, 7 of them having already kicked their diseases ass or in the middle of kicking it.

Seven Little Amazing Warriors. Seven Strong Warrior Mommas. Thirteen Wonderful Sweet Siblings. Instead of being attached to IV poles, they were attached to boogie boards. Instead of filtered hospital air, they were breathing in the smell of salt and sunscreen. Running down the hallways was replaced with running in the sand. There were smiles and laughter and there was loud, real loud. These kids know how to live it up better than any other kids I know and watching them do it was not taken lightly by any of us. We Moms watched with gratitude that this day, this memory was happening. We all know how quickly life can change. We stare a little longer, smile a little differently, hug a little harder. We love these kids, not only our own, but each of these children. We pray for them all. We do what we can to help each other. We get it. Without saying a word, we all get it. We will always have a bond. We all, without a doubt, would go back to the blissful ignorance we once knew before our kid’s diagnoses, but we also know that we are in the presence of greatness. We have each other. We love each other. We are the strongest group of mommas in the world. We know how blessed we are to have had this weekend. We know how blessed we are to have each other. And we know how blessed we are to have our children. Our warriors will continue to be amazing. Fight on little warriors. Mommas got your back.