His smile,
His smile is contagious.
His eyes,
His eyes are full of life
Even though, on some days,
He might not be.
His body, seeming broken,
Because of the multiple doctors tearing it up,
Still remains strong.
His blood, leukemia intertwined,
His white blood cells fight and fight
Until the battle can't be fought anymore.
But he won't give up,
He's not a giver-upper.

He's too young,
They all say so.
Too young to be going through anything like this,
Too good for this,
But they all are.
All of those cancer kids are too young, too good.
But no one deserves this,
Even if they're older than old
And worse than evil.

His mother,
His mother with the same contagious smile.
A beautiful, independent woman.
His father,
His father with identical glowing eyes.
Just as strong, with his wife by his side.
His sister,
His sister, a body untouched by any harm.
She, too, has strength.
His brother,
His brother with the precious smile and beautiful eyes.
The strength and love for his diseased brother is present every day.
All their love is overpowering.
It keeps him climbing over the steep mountains
To where the grass is greener.

Then suddenly, the illness gets worse.
The pain increases,
His heart becomes weak,
It's hard to breathe.
But few of us know what that feels like.
We don't know that type of hurt.
He's relocated to the colorful hospital
Which really is deceiving,
Because as colorful as it is, it isn't a happy place to be.
"What number today, sweetheart?"
And he responds a number in the 6 to 9 range
Explaining he doesn't feel comfort.
The pain stays.

But the pain fades a little,
Though it's always present.
It slowly gets better.
His optimism helps, he tells me.
He tells me many things with a positive attitude.
Staring at his bald head and pale skin,
I can't see how he can stay in this mind set.
I don't understand,
But none of us really do.

All of us who are fortunate
Honestly can't see the truth.
We aren't able to see how it is.
We can't feel it,
We don't experience it.
We are the very lucky ones,
But unlike most, I don't feel lucky solely because I'm healthy.
I feel lucky because I have a person, like him, in my life.
I am beyond lucky.

He teaches me lessons without knowing it.
He helps me through the day and doesn't have a clue.
He turns his disease into something good for me.
He reaches out and touches my heart
Which is a task not many can complete.
He doesn't have to try and get to me,
He just does.
I'm lucky.

That boy
The one with the contagious smile,
The wonder in his eyes,
The powerful body and the battle within.
That boy
Is my inspiration.
He's my inspiration to be a better person,
To appreciate more,
To not take anything for granted.
That boy
Who impacted my life a great deal
Will have his story passed down to my children
And my children's children
And their children too
Because these lessons are the key,
The key to life.
And he taught me.
That young friend of mine,
The strong boy fighting a disease,
Those bright blue eyes.
That lovely, warm grin.
That boy.