Heavy Heart

My 30 year old cousin, Billy Derrick, passed away this morning after a 2 week long battle with leukemia. 2 weeks! 3 weeks ago he was a normal, apparently healthy 30 year old...today GONE! It seems so surreal. He went to the doctor for what he thought was the flu, and instead learned he had cancer and was admitted to the hospital. Billy lived in Maine, so until the invention of Facebook I didn't know him very well. Through Facebook, I have had the privilege of getting to know him. When he was diagnosed 2 weeks ago, I sent him a message telling him how sorry I was, and how I would be praying for him. He responded with a very confident "I will beat this". Yet, here we are 2 weeks later and he is now safe in the arms of Jesus. I pray for his sister and parents as they were struggling with watching him be so sick. They just posted in the wee hours of yesterday morning how difficult watching him like this is, and how they can't wait until he starts to improve. He had a severe brain bleed yesterday that knocked him into a coma, and took his life unexpectedly this morning.

My mom, grandmother, and aunt (his grandmother) all drove to Maine this summer to visit them. His grandmother couldn't drive by herself and is scared to death of flying, and as a result hadn't seen him for 4 years. Praise God, He worked out the perfect trip for her to get to see him one last time. Tomorrow morning she is going to face her fear and get on a plane, with her son, and fly back to Maine to tell her grandson goodbye. Please pray for his sister Judy, his parents Debbie and Luther, and his grandmother Vera...along with the rest of his family.

I would like to do something in his memory, but could use some ideas. Some ideas I had were a stuffed animal drive for young cancer children (they do the procedure to the animal first to show the kids what to expect) or maybe a cute hat drive to help keep them warm after they loose their hair to chemo. What are your thoughts or ideas?