Thank you all for being here, and I’m honored to be here today to share our memories and love for Naomi.

First of all, Natalie, I am absolutely certain you did everything you could for Naomi

•          Pushing her nurses and doctors for the best possible care. 

•          Choosing CHOP, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, instead of hospitals closer to home. 

•          Constantly supervising her drug regimen.  

•          Driving the car to and from Philly, too many times to count.

•          Countless hours away from home, family and friends…  

You did everything you could.  

No one could have asked or expected more.

John

I can only imagine how hard it was at times to stay up here while so much was going on down in Philly, but you had to work so you could help provide for Naomi.   That’s a difficult sacrifice, and I so deeply appreciate it.  I also want to thank you for trying to make Naomi’s life as normal as possible.  Watching Scooby Doo, helping her to just be a kid and have fun.    Moms may not always approve, but I think Dads often help kids just enjoy being a kid, and I want you to know how thankful I am for that.    She deserved all the joy you could give her. And in return, Naomi brought so much joy to you and to us.  

Naomi had such an amazing laugh.   Like how she’d giggle uncontrollably when her dog Opie would run around like a maniac, especially if he hadn’t seen her for a long time.

Or how she’d laugh hysterically when Charlie, her other favorite dog, would turn into a little jumping bean, trying to smother her with his doggie kisses.

For me, it was a privilege to listen to the normal sounds of laughter and squabbling as she played with her cousin Laura.    I’m sure it was the same with her other cousins Colton and Jarett, her step-brother Logan, and her friends from school.

For me and my father, we most enjoyed listening to her maniacal giggling while watching the classic cartoons like Tom and Jerry or Looney Tunes.  Especially when Tom the cat or Daffy Duck got the comeuppance they usually deserved.

In all of this, it was a privilege to get to see the early glimpses of the person Naomi was going to become.   I even enjoyed watching the occasional mother/daughter "discussion", usually at the dinner table over Naomi needing to try some food she didn’t like.   The normal parent/child stuff.   For me and others in my family, we definitely feel cheated to have missed out on the “battles” to come between mother and daughter.    She would have become a beautiful, but probably a pretty strong-willed teenager for Natalie to contend with.  My father and I often joked about looking for mushroom clouds in a few years over Adams Center.   

But we only teased because we saw there was so much love between them, and because how alike they were in so many ways.  Both so strong-willed, the normal parent/teenager conflicts would have been epic!  J

In the coming years, I don’t know how difficult things will be.  Birthdays, Christmas, family gatherings… there will be an impossible hole to fill now that Naomi has moved on.    But all we can do is continue to share our memories and stories of Naomi and keep her close to our hearts.

For me, I’m thankful to have a job that allows me to fight back against what’s happened to Naomi and what’s happening to other children as well. It will be something that will help me deal with her absence moving forward.

I work for a large pharmaceutical company.   Because of my job, I know it takes around 30 million dollars to put a new promising drug into a clinical study like the one we hoped Naomi could join.   

Cancer’s a complicated disease, and so far there are no easy cures. To the young people here…you don’t have to be a brilliant doctor or research scientist to help fight it.    It’s a team effort.   There’s no Einstein waiting to be born that will magically create a cure for all of us.   It will take tens of thousands of people, with all kinds of skills and backgrounds to dedicate their lives to this work.  
 

Computer specialists, accountants, artists, advertising people…we all contribute at companies like mine.     As you find your way in life, please keep Naomi’s journey in mind and use your special talents – whatever they may be - to help continue the fight.

And the efforts that were made for Naomi, were not for nothing.   I’m so thankful to the doctors, nurses,  and everyone else that gave us more time with her.   Words cannot express our gratitude.   The fact that we were given 6 more years with Naomi is a testament to the amazing things they have already accomplished.

To the adults here, thank you all so much for your contributions to Naomi’s care, either directly or through the Gofundme page that Tiffany made.   

I know this sounds really weird, but thank you for paying your taxes as well.   The government funds so much valuable research that even large corporations like mine CAN’T afford to do on our own. But sadly, so much of this research is not for pediatric cancers, ironically because they are so thankfully rare.  So writing your congress people to demand more be done for childhood cancers can have a much bigger impact than perhaps you realize.    If you feel strongly about this, please just send them an email or quick letter.   Maybe even tell Naomi’s story and how much it means to you for this to never happen again. 

When I reflect on all of this, I wonder if this is God’s plan.   I don’t believe God chooses who gets sick or who stays healthy, but if God created everything, why does Cancer even exist?    It’s so complex, so difficult to cure, so devastating to families.  Why?  

Maybe God’s plan is that in order to stop this, we, as a society, will have to practice what the Bible teaches; it's not just about the Science.   We’ll have to reach past our own personal wants and needs, think of the greater good, and work together to make tragedies like this stop.   This idea doesn’t make losing Naomi hurt any less, but thinking like this helps me push on, and I hope it does the same for you as well.

Finally, my family has one last request today.  In a few moments, if you’re able, we ask that you please stand with us.    There has been so much grief and so many tears this week and today.  But we need to celebrate what Naomi did.   She kicked Cancer's butt for 6 years, even after it had metastasized.    And during it all, she was a spunky, feisty, and just an awesome kid.  What she did was better than hitting a homerun, scoring a touchdown, or hitting the game-winning shot  at the buzzer...

So for the next minute or so, we’d ask for people to forget modesty and decorum.    We’d like everyone to clap, cheer, even whistle... let’s make a JOYFUL noise so that Naomi can not only feel but hear our love and admiration for her up in Heaven.     If you’ve been crying like me, just take a few deep breaths and remember to breathe J [take a few slow deep breaths]    Please rise….