My Friend's Daughter
Yesterday a friend’s baby turned one year old. I went to visit them today with some presents. As I looked at Cecilia my heart swelled, such a beautiful little girl! She was smiling cheekily and doing all kinds of things that one year olds do – pulling to stand, attempting to stand on her own, sticking everything into her mouth. I just wanted to scoop her up into my arms and give her a big cuddle. But I couldn’t. I was looking at Cecilia through the window of her room at the oncology ward of Krakow’s children’s hospital. She recently completed her third round of chemotherapy in preparation for a bone marrow transplant. Tragically, Cecilia is suffering from infant leukemia and has been living at the hospital for the last four months. “It’s not fair, is it?” Cecilia’s mum asked me. All I could do was nod in agreement. It is not fair. It is wrong. Downright wrong, that this is happening to Cecilia and her family. To anyone in fact. But it is happening. It wasn’t easy for me to go to th...