06/19/2026
We were only 2½ years into our marriage when cancer moved into our home.
Just one month earlier, my husband had set a personal and state bench press record by lifting 543.3 pounds. He was a picture of health and were shocked when we thought he had a simple tooth infection that turned out to be an aggressive form of leukemia. He was given two weeks to live unless he started immediate treatment.
So we chose the treatments and started a 13 year fight including:
A bone marrow transplant
Countless hospital stays, clinic visits and blood transfusions
Relapse after relapse
And constant prayers for a cure
Five years after his transplant, we thought cancer was behind us. Then it returned in a rare tumor form that many doctors had never seen.
The years that followed were beautifully exhausting.
We homeschooled our son and spent every day together. We made memories in hospital rooms, clinic hallways, and held vending machine picnics. We lived on pullout couches and hospital beds and laughed more than people would expect.
But eventually, Willie was tired.
One night, we had a conversation that changed everything.
He said he was done fighting and I fully agreed. Then we prayed and realized the fight was never ours.
Just like David and Goliath, the battle belonged to God.
Our job was to live.
So we stopped saying Willie was "fighting cancer."
He was living with cancer. We were LIVING!
That one shift changed everything.
The treatments, daily clinic visits, and constant transfusions continued as his health declined.
But we stopped measuring life by what cancer was taking from us and started measuring it by what God was still giving us.
Eventually, his body was done and he won the victory.
Willie has been living with Jesus for nine months now, but he's very present in our family.
My son and I are able to continue forward with glory to God for the life He is designing and the battles He continues to fight for us.
There is so much life to enjoy when we give up the fight!❤️