"A gift for Santa too..."

"A gift for Santa too..."

This moment brought tears to my eyes. Cody had been in a foul mood earlier in the morning. We had just been discharged from the hospital and were going down to the party. He was in no mood to see Santa or anyone else. So I suggested that we take our belongings out to the truck and then return. By the time we returned the wagon upstairs and headed back to the party he was in a better mood. It is very hard to tell with him which Cody you are going to get. We waited inline for a few minutes and then it was his turn. I was a little wary of how he would react to Santa, but with that Cody charm he gave Santa a long hard hug for at least 20 seconds. Santa was pleasantly surprised also. This embrace reminded me of when we went to Disney World for his make a wish. He did the same to one of the characters there. Diane and I both wept at that moment. We just get flooded with emotions when we see him interact with people like this. He is such a loving boy but in many ways the things he has gone through have made him tough. He associates people being very nice to him with doctors wanting to touch or examine him.
This great photo was taken by the Washington Post. I would like to thank them for letting me use this photo. It was taken at the Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center. The Virginia local and state police put on a toy drive and they deliver the toys to kids at many of the area hospitals.