author: Jeanette Mesite Frem

There’s a little boy in our proverbial village, who I want to bring to your attention.  There’s a mom and a dad, too, and grandparents and many other family members and many, many friends who are thinking of little Kai every day, so I thought it might be good for you to think of him, too.

Kai and Kerri, his mom, used to come to Mothers and Company and I hired them (well, her, but he came with her a lot, which was a happy common-stance at MoCo) to work in the shop and lead breastfeeding groups.  She’d come in and chat with all of us moms about how much he cried and how very, very little he slept.  It was unusual and all of us knew it.  It wasn’t like most babies whose mothers think their babies “never sleep” or “cry all the time”.  Kerri was listening to her baby and deep inside she just knew something wasn’t right.  She finally ended up pushing and pushing to get tests and more tests and finally it was found that Kai had an inoperable brain tumor.  That started a long relationship, which continues to this day, with Boston’s Children’s Hospital.

That’s the back-story from my perspective and from then on, Kerri started a blog.  Her strong and beautiful prose tells the story of all he (and the family) have been going through.

Besides bringing tears to every eye who reads her blog, it also inspires.  We are inspired by Kai’s story to hug our little ones just a little bit closer.  And, I hope, we are inspired to trust our maternal or paternal intuition about our children.  We are inspired to keep demanding, asking, pleading for more information, more tests, more opinions.  Trust the gut.  You’ve heard the old saying, “go with your gut”.  It’s true, especially when it comes to our kids.  We are inspired, to drive far and wide, to connect with folks in our communities who are going through similar struggles.  And, by Kai’s story, we are inspired to accept help and support from those who care about us.

It’s been 15 months and things have recently changed with Kai’s status.  Our “village” is rising up to provide meals for Kerri and her hubby and their family, raise money and pray for Kai.  You can read Kerri’s blog here: Kai’s Fight Club, as it was so perfectly named.  It’s amazing to see so many people supporting them, even those who don’t know them.  Wow, our village rocks.

If you’d like to read her blog, please do so.  She’d like that.  And leave a comment, even if you don’t know her.  She likes that.

There’s a fundraiser coming up in December as well, stay tuned to find out details as they come.

Hug your belly.  Hug your little one.  And send peace and healing vibes/prayers/thoughts to Kai and his family.  Thanks.