The tiniest of foot prints can leave the biggest impressions...

I have been struggling with writing this blog for a while.  I never wanted to seem like I was exploiting the people who have been my source of inspiration so I decided to not post about them until I had reached my fundraising goal.  Thanks to your support, I have finally made it!  Now I invite you to get to know a little about sweet Allison...  A little girl who has made a big impression on my heart...

I first heard of Allison's story last summer.  Two of my friends from California were in the same play-date as Allison and her mom so they got to know them both very well.  Between my two friends, I stayed current with her story from their Facebook status updates and it was from one of those updates that I found her blog, which I followed ever since.  Allison was a smart, silly, and very healthy one year old when she was diagnosed with one of the rarest types of leukemia, Acute Megakaryocytic Leukemia.  She immediately began intensive chemotherapy, which lasted four hours each day for ten days straight (I couldn't imagine that type of treatment as an adult, much less as a little baby.)  The results of the chemo put Allison in partial remission but two more rounds were still required in hopes of getting her ready for a bone marrow transplant...  Now all they needed was a match.  Allison's friends and family held bone marrow drives all around Los Angeles and Orange County.  They got support from local news stations and vendors.  The drives were a great success- people showed their support in extraordinary numbers and out of 13 million donors, Allison finally found a match.  But it was too late.  The leukemia proved to be too strong for Allison's little body and was no longer treatable...

Sweet Allison went home to be with the angels on October 17th, 2009.  She was only 17 months old.  Although I had never met her or her family, Allison's story touched me far deeper than I could have ever imagined.  Maybe it was her sweet smile or soft curly hair that reminded me of Emira, or maybe it was the incredible strength her parents showed through it all.  Whatever it was, Allison's story will forever be embedded in my heart.  Rest in peace sweet baby and enjoy all of the snuggles from our papa God.

Click here for more of Allison's story:  http://teamallisonz.blogspot.com/