I've been reading Maya Thompson's blog for almost three years now. In August 2010, Maya's son, Ronan was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma (a form of cancer common in children). He was three years old. He fought cancer for nearly a year, but he lost his battle on the 9th May, 2011. As his mother Maya puts it:
"Ronan's battle with Neuroblastoma ended on May 9, 2011, but his fight will go on. Ronan continues to inspire us in the way he lived his life full of passion, strength, and courage. He will live forever in our hearts and minds as the most beautiful little boy to ever have touched the earth. We, as a family, are determined to carry on his name, and find a cure for this horrible disease"
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| Credit: Rockstar Ronan |
I remember when I first stumbled across Maya's blog when I was thirteen, and something about her and her beautiful family's strength had me hooked, and since then I have read every single post she has written. I've smiled with her, and cried with her, and I find it so hard to write about this because it means so much to me. I think it's down to the raw truth that Maya puts in her blog, she doesn't sugar coat anything, and just puts down her feelings, so you can't help but go on the journey with her. I can remember the day that I read her post saying that Ronan had lost his fight. I didn't cry at first, I was so in shock, but when I cried, boy, did I cry. This little boy had touched me so much in the eight months that I had known about him, probably more than anybody I'd actually met in real life. I know this must sound silly to some of you, but I promise, if you read a few of Maya's posts on Rockstar Ronan, you'll be touched in the same way that I have been.
Ronan and his story gained a lot of recognition in September 2012, after Taylor Swift released a beautiful song she had written called "Ronan", which she then performed at the "Stand up to Cancer telethon". Now, this single she penned is different to most other charity singles that people write. If you Google the writers of Ronan, you will see that Taylor credited Maya Thompson as co-writer, as, like me, she was touched by Maya's story and also read Rockstar Ronan. She wrote a song made up entirely of phrases and words used on the blog, and all of the money went to the charity that Maya Thompson has set up, the Ronan Thompson Foundation & other cancer-related charities.
I was going to write a blog post about how much I hate cancer and how I can't believe the strength that the Thompson's have & how beautiful their whole family is, but I've found I can't. I feel like I can't write a sugar-coated version of what they've all gone through. No one else can tell the story of Ronan, a beautiful boy who died just three days before his fourth birthday. You need to read Maya's blog and her posts, and then you can cry with me.
Nothing can be said to those people who have lost their friends or family to this horrible disease, and I find it amazing as to how Maya manages to put her feelings into words, when I'm struggling to find the right ones even in this blog post. I feel stupid for writing this post as if I knew him, and yet somehow managing not to have any emotion in it, even though I am trying my hardest. I can't put anything about Ronan or the Thompson's into words, I just...struggle.
It's angels like Taylor Swift who make sure that no one forgets about cancer. I feel like it's almost a taboo subject, no one wants to talk about children having cancer. I think it's because we don't like to think about something so innocent being cursed by something so...horrible (I can't think of an adjective to describe it, but maybe after reading Maya's blog, you'll be able to think of a fair few). I know that quite a lot of people don't like Taylor Swift for various reasons, but please, listen to Ronan, and read Maya's posts about what Taylor Swift has done for her and for her family. Even now, when they're in the same state, Taylor meets up with Maya, and they talk. In one of her blog posts in which she talks about Taylor Swift, she says
"This girl feels like a part of our family now, not some big celebrity. It’s funny because she’s never felt like some big celebrity to me. To me she’s always just felt like a normal girl who fell in love with you [Ronan] and who just happened to be in a position to make something really beautiful happen because she took a chance on us and followed her heart. To me, that has saved me in a way and I will forever be grateful to her and her old, wise soul. I have no doubt that many more beautiful things are to come."
What I think is so lovely about Maya and Taylor's relationship is that even though Maya shares basically everything about her life and Ronan on her blog, she says (when talking about her time with Taylor) "Some things just feel too sacred to be shared". If you need any convincing of Taylor Swift's angelic heart, you can find them here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and in many more places on Rockstar Ronan (click on the last links first). Even though you may consider her a normal celebrity, and you may "hate" her for some reason, trust me: After reading how Maya talks about her and for how grateful she is to her, you will gain some respect for her.
Maya's words: "Wise girl. Wise soul. Forever grateful."
Ronan by Taylor Swift, in a video made by a RoStar
Whilst on Maya's blog usually it is her feelings and words that affect me the most, just the other day I re-read some facts on an old blog post about cancer in children in the US, and as she puts it, it's "unf***ingacceptable" (Credit for these facts are to Rockstar Ronan):
- Nationally, childhood cancer is 20x more prevalent than pediatric AIDS.
- Pediatric AIDS receives 4x the funding that childhood cancer receives.
- In one month there are 2x as many deaths from childhood cancer as pediatric AIDS for the entire year.
- In the U.S. almost 3,000 children do not survive cancer each year.
- Over the past 20 years, only TWO new cancer drug has been approved for pediatric use – Clofarabine (Clolar-Genzyme) in 2004 for ALL and Tenoposide (Vumar/VM-26-BMS) in 1990.
- Only 3% of the National Cancer Institute Budget goes toward Pediatric Cancer Research.
- September is Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month, which nationally goes unrecognised.
- The federal government recently cut the budget for Childhood Cancer Research.
- Currently there are between 30 – 40,000 children undergoing cancer treatment in the U.S.
- Young patients often have a more advanced stage of cancer when first diagnosed. Approximately 20% of adults with cancer show evidence the disease has spread, yet almost 80% of children show that the cancer has spread at diagnosis.
- Today, up to 75% of the children with cancer can be cured, yet some forms of childhood cancer have proven so resistant to treatment that, in spite of research, a cure is illusive.
- As a nation, we spend over $14 BILLION per year on the space program, but only $35 million on Childhood Cancer Research each year.
- There are 15 children diagnosed with cancer for every one child diagnosed with pediatric AIDS. Yet, the U.S. invests approximately $595,000 for research per victim of pediatric AIDS and only $20,000 for each victim of childhood cancer.
- The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) federal budget for 2003 was $4.6 billion. Of that, breast cancer received 12%, prostate cancer received 7%, and all 12 major groups of pediatric cancers combined received less than 3%.
- Research funds are scarce as most money is diverted to well-publicized adult forms of cancer, such as breast and prostate.
- In 2005, the American Cancer Society provided only 2.5% of funded grants, or 1.85% of dollars spent on research to pediatric cancer
Unbelievable.
(Note - I'm not sure how similar these figures are to that in the UK & the rest of the world)
I apologise for how rambly and unstructured this post is, but frankly, the truth is, I don't know how I can structure this. It's taken me over an hour and a half to write this much, because I just kept changing my mind on what I was going to say and deleting the whole thing and starting again. It's ridiculous, but I couldn't find the words. I also apologise for talking about Taylor Swift so much, I guess I got sidetracked, but I feel like people need to know about the good things she does for charity, which the media never seems to focus on, instead choosing to focus on her relationship with Harry Styles, or her changes in style, etc, and always focusing on the negatives. No. This girl is amazing in different ways for different people. If you don't like her music, fine. If you don't like the way she dresses, fine. These things don't change the fact that she did a truly amazing thing for one little boy and his family, and this needs to be recognised.
When I started this post, I seemed so sure of how it was going to pan out. I was going to speak about how much I hate cancer, especially in children, and write a few words which would make all of you cry and suddenly start to support childhood cancer, and look how it turned out. I challenge you to try to write a post like that. It's pretty darn near impossible unless you've lost someone close to you like Maya Thompson has. Please, go and read her blog, Rockstar Ronan, because she puts all the things I've tried to say into words, and is guaranteed to make you shed a tear or two, & I'm pretty sure she'll make you appreciate everything you have in life, and want to do something to help improve those who have been affected by cancer in some way.
Here are all the links you need:
Rockstar Ronan (the blog I keep talking about, written by Maya Thompson.)
The reason why I'm telling you all about this and about Ronan Thompson is because September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. So come on people, let's spread the word and make people dig deep in their pockets for SUCH a good cause!
Together, we WILL find a cure for cancer. Thank you Maya, for making me realise how much this is needed & the urgency for it, and for inspiring me. There is so much I want & need to say, but only you can find the right words to say them. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't write this post the way I wanted to, but honestly, no one writes the way you do. I love you.
Finally, I would just like to say one thing:
Ronan, you are loved to the moon and back, forever and always.
That is all. I'm sorry for turning this into a pointless, waffly near-novel. I can't put emotions very well into words.
❤
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