Keep Moving Forward

The last few weeks I can’t seem to bounce back. I have keep going but my heart has just hurt. I know it’s kindergarten and it’s crushing. All she ever wanted to do was ride the bus. I’m not sure she would like school. They don’t serve Starbucks or sprinkle pancakes. But the bus she was ready for.
A brilliant mother told me you can’t get consumed with going back. You have to keep moving forward. It’s all you can do. She is so right. The past hurts a lot. The future is scary. I try hard to live one day at a time.
At the end of the day I am always Melina’s mom. Forever. Yet she gave me a new role not to long ago. She made me the President of the Melina Michelle Edenfield Foundation. Melina made me a fighter that I never dreamed I would be. But Melina deserves to win and so does every other child ever impacted with this horrible diagnosis. Some days I get caught in the grief and I forget the fight. But it is in those moments “I look forward”. I look at what we are trying to do. I look to the miracle I want my Melina to be for other families. I look at all the good.
An amazing group of kids and my lifers raised over $20,000.00 at a free event to help Melina’s fight. Think about that. I know in life we can get caught up in the pressures, in the drama, and in the anxieties. I remind myself all the time that those things are fixable. Those things can get better, those things we can walk away from. But when the real tragedy hit, When we lost one of our most precious gifts people stepped up.
Two weeks ago everyone met together and raised funds to fight this horrific diease. And that is the truest testament to character. How do we rise up to tragedy? How do we fight? I am so proud to say I am a member of this amazing community. I can not thank the city of Canfield for providing us the means to even dream of an event this big. I am grateful for the amount of people that came to support us. I am grateful for everyone of you that continues to help our Foundation grow. I am grateful for your fight, for spreading our message and for honoring my little girl.
So as the President of the Melina Michelle Edenfield Foundation we are forever grateful for the support we continue to receive. And in the next few weeks when we meet to vote on clinical trials, I can assure you we will never forget every gift made to us and the fight you give us.
As a mother thank you for honoring my Melina. Thank you for letting my little girl continue her story. Thank you for following her directives right along with us. Thank you for finding her on your toughest moments, when the past can overwhelm, and the pressures of life show up. Thank you for finding her message right there. We can not control what happens to us. We can not change our circumstances. We can only control how we respond. Thank you for choosing Joy!