Listening with your heart

I spent the hours between 6 and 8 a.m. in the atrium at SickKids, answering phones for Radiothon.

The place was electric, even at that time of day. The charismatic hosts from three of the city's biggest radio stations were battling it out to see who could get more Miracle Club members during their power hours. I even got interviewed on CFRB.

But the real highlight was a little girl named Caitlin.

She was eleven years old, with flaming red hair and a thousand watt smile.

This sweet girl has been in and out of SickKids her whole life. She's had twenty operations. She'll probably have twenty more. It's more than any child should have to bear.

She arrived with her brother. He was probably 14. He had the awkwardness of a teenager. Bad skin. Baseball hat. Hair just a little too long.

If you saw him on the street, you'd probably think he was a skateboarder. A punk. But appearances deceive.

After Caitlin told her story, DJ Bill Carroll turned to her brother and said, "What do you think of all this?"

He looked Bill square in the eye and said, "If I could do anything to take her pain away, I would. I'm bigger and stronger. I'd take it all so she wouldn't have to suffer."

Whoa.

There wasn't a dry eye.

Caitlin threw her arms around her brother and hugged him tight.

How do you raise children like that?