Finn was blessed with an incredibly supportive family environment. Two parents who adored him. A twin brother and best friend Baird and a big sister and role model Sarah.
When Finn was diagnosed at the age of 21 months, everything was as normal as could be expected in a household with a four year old daughter and two 21 month old boys. Laughter, frustration, camaraderie and hijinks were the order of the day.
A lot of things changed when Finn was diagnosed, but family didn’t.
Baird and Finn continued to best friends. They just switched the playgrounds a little bit. Clinic appointments meant a play at the clinic. Overnight hospital stays meant zooming around the hospital in cars. Finn was a lot of things during that time, but mostly he was just a kid being a kid. Baird helped Finn do that. Changed the abnormal into the normal.
Sarah continued to show Finn the way. Sitting with him in hospital beds. Learning about his disease; traveling to Boston. Sarah’s natural infectious energy rubbed off on Finn. She shaved her head for Finn; Finn shaved his head for Sarah. Sarah danced, so Finn did too.
And family didn’t stop at our home. During the time, the thing that made things easier for us was family. Grandma and grandpa on a plane. Gampy and Diane there whenever we needed them. Sisters and brothers and cousins dropping everything to help any way they could.
And family didn’t stop with blood. We lived in that time on the backs of our friends. Friends who became our family. Friends who supported us and carried us through the good times and the bad. Friends who listened and sometimes even didn’t.
And even in the grief of a loss of that depth, family remains at the centre. Because ultimately, and always, Team Finn is a family. A family that rides together and smiles together. A family that laughs and cries.
A community in pink. A family of people who have been touched by an angel.
