The internet is an amazing place.
With a few clicks, you can see anything.
And I mean ANYTHING!
A few months ago, at 4:03pm, a friend sent me this amazing picture.
In case you can’t tell, these are 1300 boxing speed bags.
Shaped into the face of the great Muhammed Ali.
As soon as I got it, I forwarded it to another friend.
Who is a friend of Laila Ali.
Muhammed’s daughter.
(That’s the closest I get to greatness.)
99 minutes later, I got this reply:
That's pretty cool!
Sent from my iPhone
The reply was from Laila.
How cool is that.
I know somebody.
Who knows somebody.
Who knows Muhammed Ali.
Take that Kevin Bacon.
I’m sure that happens all the time.
But not to me.
My email inbox is loaded with all sorts of stuff.
Everything from enhancement opportunities.
To more jokes than a night at the Comedy Store.
Most emails grab my attention for at least a second.
Sometimes two.
But I got an email a few days ago that I can’t get out of my mind.
It came from a close friend of mine.
Whose wife is a close friend of Alyce.
Not Muhammed Ali.
Just Alyce.
But Alyce is pretty great in her own way.
About nine months ago her husband was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer.
Incurable kidney cancer.
According to Alyce, 100 people get this type of cancer every year.
That’s it.
And unfortunately her 47-year old husband is one of them.
“Needless to say, this is a sad sad house,” Alyce said.
And when you are the mother of nine-year-old twins.
And a 15-month-old baby.
...
...I don’t have the words to describe.
And I’m allegedly a writer.
When facing adversity -- in this case, the worst type.
Everyone copes their own way.
That is a personal choice.
But for Alyce, her choice was to go viral.
And for the last six months, she’s been posting her life on youtube.
For all to see.
Good. Bad. Sad. Funny. Sad. Heartbreaking.
It’s all there.
Now I must warn you.
These videos have absolutely no production quality.
None.
Just a woman.
An unbelievably brave woman.
Sitting in front of a camera.
Many nights in a dark room.
Spilling the dark details.
Of her life.
No sugar coating.
No “everything is going to be fine.”
Alyce knows what is happening.
And she’s not afraid to show it.
If you make it through six seconds without a kleenex.
You are better than me.
Actually, you are less human than me.
Not every one of her videos is intended to be tearjerking.
But when you consider the reality, it’s impossible to hold in your emotions.
Alyce has been posting these blogs, all while taking care of a sick husband and three young kids.
And this is one open book.
Recently she admitted that her son has chosen to think his dad will be ok.
While his twin sister has had other thoughts.
“She wants to know when her dad is going to die.”
“She’s a planner,” Alyce said.
Both of the kids have been in therapy since finding out the terrible news in February.
And during one of those therapy sessions, the counselor recommended a project.
A project for the kids.
A project that could (hopefully) keep their mind on something other than what anyone’s mind would be on.
That project is making a quilt.
A quilt that family and friends could sign.
So when dad is cold, “he could wrap himself with everybody he loves.”
The goal is to deliver this quilt in January.
For his 48th birthday.
“The outpouring of love that is happening is incredible,” Alyce said.
So incredible, it got her daughter thinking.
She wondered if any famous people would sign this quilt.
In a nine-year-old’s mind, if a famous person would sign for her dad, that would show that people really do care.
So Alyce posted another video blog.
As she does every few days.
“I am so excited today.”
That’s how it started.
Then for the next eight minutes.
And 33 seconds.
She tells us about this idea.
This goal.
Of getting a celebrity to sign this quilt.
Any celebrity.
She mentioned some of her husband’s favorites.
Like “anybody from the movie Platoon.”
Or Kiefer Sutherland.
Or Shania Twain.
Or Toby Keith.
But deep down it was clearly less about the celebrity.
And more about her kids.
“I haven’t seen this kind of light from my daughter for a long time.”
About 30 minutes ago I got a link to Alyce’s latest video.
A video that shows Alyce with a giant smile.
At times.
Clearly overwhelmed.
Overwhelmed that Charlie Sheen is going to sign.
And that “all of the Chicago Bears” have signed.
Overwhelmed that people really do care.
Most important, she told us that her kids "feel empowered by what is going on.”
News that would make anybody smile.
But unfortunately that was not the only news that Alyce had to report.
Sunday she rushed her husband back to the hospital.
He was in more pain than she had ever seen him in.
“The cancer has spread. And it hurts.”
The cancer is physically hurting him.
She then reminded us of the plans to give the quilt to her husband in January.
For his birthday.
For his birthday.
Then she paused.
“But I don’t know. I don’t know how much time.”
If you want to learn more about Alyce and her family, please visit:
