How We got started

After 3 years of treatment,  Ethan was put on hospice on October 15th, 2014. It had been a long, hard fight for Ethan as well as his family. They wanted to do something to celebrate with him during his last days. 

Ethan loved Christmas, and he had been looking forward to his birthday since his previous birthday. When Ethan went on hospice, his family decided to celebrate all the holidays with him in one week. The week before Ethan passed away, they were able to celebrate Halloween, his 5th birthday (a month early), and Christmas all in the same week. People local and worldwide celebrated with the family and helped them celebrate. They had neighbors open their doors for them 10 days early so they could go trick-or-treating. For Ethan's birthday, there was a parade held down the family's street in Ethan’s honor. He was “knighted”, and a neighbor made a special Batman cake for him. For Christmas Eve (on October 24th), Santa came in a fire truck, FM100 played 3 hours of Christmas music, and the yard was full of carolers and a live nativity. People around the world decorated their houses with Christmas lights. The family even got to ride around the neighborhood on a horse-drawn carriage to look at the lights. Christmas day was celebrated on October 25th, and the week of holidays came to a close. 

Three days after Ethan's Early Christmas, on October 28th, he passed away in his home surrounded by family. He is missed by his family and so many others, but they are grateful for the time they were able to spend with him, and what they learned from him.  Our goal is to honor Ethan's memory by supporting other kids with the same love and care he received.