Nick Schield

I found out this week that a dear family friend had passed away.

Nick Schield is a boy I used to babysit. He was such a sweet boy with a kind heart. The type of boy that makes you long to be a child again. When he was four years old he was diagnosed with leukemia. The twelve years following, Nick quickly grew into a man, although in number of years he was still a child. He faced the disease with the valor of a lone knight facing a fiery dragon.

Nick proved the power of a single life. Even in a short life, his determination and kindness touched the lives of so many people, including, deeply, mine. He was quick with a smile. Once I visited him on a “not-so-good” day. He still sparked a smile. He and a friend came up with a "Kids Can" campaign, selling bracelets and such with the inspiring phrase "Kids Can" imprinted on them to raise money for Leukemia research. I wonder if it crossed his mind that the money he caused to be raised for research would bless the lives of those after him, and not his own.

His family included my family and so many others in his progressions in combating the disease as well as when he was not doing too well. They are examples of friendship, unselfishness and love. I celebrate Nick’s life and the blessing it has been in my life to know him and his family.

Lesson Learned the Hard Way

My appreciation is tainted with regret. I hope that my sloppiness can alert someone reading this to do what I didn’t do. Nick passed away in September. And I just now learned about it. Five months later. Five months after I should have purchased a plane ticket to be at his memorial. Five months after I should have put my arm around his sisters, mom and dad and let them know my love for their brother and son and offer them some sort of comfort when their wounds were still fresh. But I didn’t. I didn’t because I didn’t know. And in the meantime, I sent the Schields updates on our happy, relatively carefree life and they had the heart to send caring comments about them, although they probably wondered why I never mentioned anything about their son.

I didn’t know because I didn’t listen. You know when you feel you should do something and you don’t do it? Well, here’s the big lesson: if you don’t listen, it hurts. Since the beginning of fall last year I kept feeling like I should check his website where his family is so diligent in keeping people informed about his progress. Since he had been doing so well for quite a while, my viewing of the website had become less frequent—about twice a month. And then not at all. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. On the contrary, daily I thought of him, prayed for him, and sent positive vibes his way. But I continued to feel that I should check his website, and I didn’t. And I could give you a whole slew of excuses why not, but the truth is, I could have done it. I could have been less busy. I could have used a different computer when my computer crashed. I could have been quicker at obtaining the correct address instead of being lost on the internet trying to find it. Instead, now I have a sickening feeling inside for not doing something I knew I should have done.

So, do you have something you think you should do? DO IT NOW!!!