What One Person’s Love Can Do

I was surprised to learn last week – upon trying to arrange something with friends – that I was the only one in the group who didn’t want to schedule on February 14^th. “It’s Valentine’s Day,” I said. Didn’t the rest of them celebrate?

In fact, they did not, and lovingly teased me for it. I had no idea that a lot of married couples in fact don’t celebrate this Hallmark holiday. My husband and I grew up with parents that always celebrated the holiday, and we unknowingly had an unspoken pact that this was non-negotiable. (Nothing extravagant, as you can see from these pictures, but at least recognized and appreciated.)

What I like about this holiday is that it can be for all kinds of love. Showing love to your kids, your parents, your friends. So I thought it was appropriate to showcase an extraordinary kind of love this month from one of my incredible clients.

One morning before school, Amy Wood noticed her otherwise healthy young son’s left eye was drifting inward.  She took him to their pediatrician, who told them that they needed to get an MRI right away and that he thought it was a brain tumor. In a matter of hours, the Wood family’s world had been completely upended.

Amy’s son Alex was diagnosed with a brain tumor called a craniopharyngioma. Though operable and “benign,” the amount of daily and life-altering procedures just to survive made day-to-day living an immense challenge. The Woods fought hard to get Alex the support he needed, and as an incredible act of love – put her career on hold to start the Raymond A. Wood Foundation to support others with this terrible disease.

I can’t imagine having to go through all that the Wood family has had to go through and continues to go through. But in the seven years since starting their foundation, they are creating an easier path for those with new diagnoses, as well as a world of support for this community and incredible progress on research and new technology.

The video we were honored to create for them updated their original video to show how the organization has expanded and grown beyond Alex’s story and is there to help anyone fighting this disease, young or old. (To watch the entire video, visit the homepage of their website.)

Amy is a force to be reckoned with and sets an incredible example of the power of love.