We'll miss you Melanie

Last year Melanie moved into the area and started school part way through the year. My Zoe, being the kind hearted tender soul that she is, took it upon herself to make sure Melanie was welcome. She be friended her and was her friend from that point on. The fact they were both HUGE Hannah Montana fans helped I'm sure. They just clicked. In the late spring of last year, Melanie began to fall behind in school and her reading level dropped. She began complaining of head aces a lot. At first they though it was her eyesight , that perhaps she was straining to see and falling behind. An eye test proved this not to be so. With further tests they discovered that Melanie had a large brain tumor at the base of the brain stem. To large to remove. They didn't expect her to last month. They asked us not to tell the children till after school had ended for the summer. Zoe was very upset and wanted to see Melanie. We had no idea where she was at at that point. We soon got a phone number for Melanie's mother from their school teacher. My wife called to speak to Melanie mother. Melanie had been asking to see Zoe but the Mother had no idea who Zoe was. We made arrangement to get Zoe to see Melanie. Zoe took her Some Hannah Montana things to do and some DVD to watch while in the hospital. They had a tender reunion. Melanie managed to hold on all through the summer and actually came back to school this fall in a wheel chair. Very puffy and swollen. She only lasted a few days at a time. Eventually she was back in the hospital. Zoe went to see her on her birthday ,Oct 26th, and Melanie was not very coherent. Before they left my wife told Zoe to go hold Melanie hand and let her know she was there. Zoe took her hand and said "this is Zoe". Melanie gave Zoe hand a squeeze and said "I know you are here". Later Zoe told us that she felt like their hearts touched. It wasn't long after that that things got really bad for Melanie. The family made the hard decision to take her off the life support. Melanie hung on for several days before she finally let go and left us.

"When tomorrow starts without me, Don't think we're far apart. For every time you think of me. I'm right here in your heart."