Because of Ezra

I spent the morning yesterday with a family that has been through a tough time recently. Kyle and Robyn Matthews are a young couple who has dealt with loss quite well. Their two-year-old boy, Ezra, passed away two weeks ago from pediatric cancer. Their other child, Charlie, had a twin brother who died at birth. Charlie was born three and a half months premature and has had several medical complications since birth. He's on oxygen now and is fed through a feeding tube. I learned quite a bit while I was over there yesterday. This family is staying strong even though the amount of loss they've had. The Matthews are in the process of setting up a foundation called, Because Of Ezra, in hopes of curing pediatric cancer.

This story is a part of a series that the Times does every holiday season called, Holiday Hopes, where they profile families whose stories need to be told and hopefully something positive comes from it. I hope that the community learns something from the Matthews' story and their foundation gets a great start to curing pediatric cancer. These types of series are a great example of how newspapers are creating an impact on their communities. Melissa makes some great points in her recent blog post about newspaper photogs. If you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do! linkage-http://thelifeofm.com/?p=432



-Robyn Matthews, 24, gently sways and pats her eight-month-old boy, Charlie, after he was fed Tuesday morning. Charlie is Robyn and Kyle Matthews' only child after losing Charlie's twin at birth and their 14-month-old boy, Ezra to neuroblastoma on Nov. 8th. "Things go a lot slower around here now that we don't have an active two-year-old running around," said Robyn. Charlie has been home from the hospital for two months. In his short life, Charlie has experienced several medical complications from being born three and a half months premature and has a nurse by his side 12 hours a day in the Matthews' home.