This morning my day started with far more questions than I could conceive the answers to. I received news that one of my St. Jude babies had passed away. In my over 25 years of being associated with St. Jude, news like this still hits me very hard.

I feel very honored and privileged to get to know each of these courageous youngsters and their families. I have learned so much from them and gained so much personal strength by knowing their stories.  But this is not about me. It's about us. It's about how Faith, Family and Hope are the real reasons we should be drawing a breath every day.

Many are with heavy hearts this Monday morning. Bennett Coleman, the baby son of Megan and Ben Coleman (Ben is a pastor at The Bayou Church in Lafayette), passed away early this morning. Bennett was diagnosed with a rare form of a very aggressive cancer in December, and was being treated at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis

Tracy Wirtz of KATC's Good Morning Acadiana wrote those words on that stations website. It was news that none of us wanted to hear. The comments on Facebook all pointed toward a common theme. Prayer.

Losing a loved one is never easy, but when that precious life is that of a sweet, innocent child, it's even harder. I never had the chance to meet Bennett. I did have the opportunity to spend a few minutes with his Dad, Ben, during our St. Jude Radiothon this past February. You might recall that was during one of our two episodes of frozen streets and bridges yet, Ben found away around the closings to come tell us his story. It was that important.

In our conversation Ben talked a lot of Faith. How he knew God had the perfect plan for his tiny son. He talked of strength that his family and his Church family at The Bayou Church was providing. He spoke eloquently of what St. Jude Hospital was trying to do for his son and how tirelessly the staff was working to bring young Bennett back home to  Louisiana to grow up with his siblings.

Ben wrote in their family blog on April 26th after hearing the news that the medical staff at St Jude had told them they were out of options for Bennett's recovery,

We truly are never out of God options. Why? Because of the cross. Because of the resurrection. Davis and I talked a lot about heaven last night and the young children there that once had the same disease that Bennett is fighting. At the end, Davis said, “So for Bennett…it’s either life here or life in heaven.”

Davis is one of Ben and Megan's other children. I found a lot of comfort in that young man's incredible grasp of what real Faith means. In just a few words Davis put it all into perspective. God's plan for Bennett was simply that, God's Plan. It is in fact the only plan that allows something so very sad to be understood.

From our family at 97.3 The Dawg we extend our deepest sympathy to the Coleman family. Thank you for sharing your story out loud so that so many others might come to know what you know.

Bennett Coleman would have been two years old on his next birthday.

 

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