Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Elijah has been tagged!


This handsome devil is Elijah -- of Team Elijah fame. His family and mine spent several hours together on Sunday. We are photographed here just before starting a game of mini-golf. (I conveniently cropped out mine and Chasen's heads!) His yellow t-shirt is a commemorative one; last year he hosted his very own lemonade stand to raise awareness of childhood cancer. It was quite successful! He will do the same again this summer.
Elijah's website is http://www.prayforelijah.com/. He is doing very well with his second round of chemo. In fact, he his this week OFF and gets to go hang out with friends at his summer care program.
At Marathon Chris's suggestion, I "tagged" Elijah (his mom, actually) so that we may all learn six odd facts about him. Here they are: (thanks, Dawn!!!)
1. He has a scar on his tongue. When he was one year old he fell at daycare and bit ALL THE WAY through his tongue.. He still has a scar which he proudly shows anyone.

2. He is teaching himself to write in cursive. He asked for a workbook to learn how to write each letter and practices regularly. He already knows how to sign his name.. Not bad for just finishing kindergarten.

3. Last summer Elijah got to swim in the Atlantic Ocean and meet Mickey Mouse on the East Coast. This summer he will get to swim in the Pacific Ocean and meet Mickey on the West Coast!

4. Elijah was the first kid at Arkansas Children’s Hospital to assist in his own bone marrow transplant! The procedure is an IV push of the stem cells and Elijah wanted to push his own. Quite impressive!!!

5. Elijah is named after his grandfather, Elijah Everett Talley, Jr. and his great grandfather, Elijah Everett Talley, Sr. (Elijah’s Papa goes by his middle name, though.)

6. Every year on his birthday, Elijah has his picture taken in the hospital shirt his dad wore on the day he was born so we can see how much he grows from year to year.

4 comments:

CewTwo said...

How wonderful. Thanks for sharing that insight into Elijah.

He sure is a great, little guy!

Petraruns said...

Wow! I love the facts about Elijah and Elijah - you really are an extremely brave and handsome little boy .. well, not so little anymore by the sound of it..

MarathonChris said...

Thanks for posting the facts about Elijah!!! Hey Elijah, I live pretty close to Mickey here on the east coast, so next time I am over there I will tell him hi from you!!! :-)

Unknown said...

I hope Elijah continues to inspire you and others to run. I loved the 6 odd facts about him, especially the one about him putting on his father's hospital shirt to see how he has grown each year. I wish only the best for him and for you.

Heard you on the PH-DIP podcast this week. Great to put a voice with a face, and I look forward to checking out your own podcast.