On April 26, 2008 this world lost a beautiful girl named Mira Brouwer to cancer. After being diagnosed in 2005, she fought long and hard through treatments and surgeries, touching innumerable lives along the way. She was a daughter, a sister, a friend, and my cousin. Although I was young when I knew her, I have such vivid memories of the days I spent with her. I remember walking through Mendon Ponds Park with her as her mom pushed her in a stroller, her eyes lighting up with wonder as birds landed on our hands. The whole world was orange as the leaves changed colors around us. I can see Mira’s crooked smile and smell the fresh fall air. I remember being at family picnics on Conesus Lake where Mira would sit, observing her surroundings with an understanding far beyond her few years. I would watch her, watching us. I remember my parents telling me that we were not wearing black to her funeral because she would have wanted us to wear bright colors and laugh and tell stories and sing songs in her memory. I remember my cousin painting my nails orange, Mira’s favorite color, and crying as she painted her own. I remember blowing bubbles with my family after the funeral and feeling Mira all around us as we pushed our mourning to the sun in an iridescent cloud. It is in the wake of these memories that I want to raise money in honor of Mira for St. Baldrick’s Day. At four years old, Mira was taken too soon, as are so many other children with cancer. Research is being done to find the cure to pediatric cancer, but there is still so much that needs to be done. Donating will help foster hope for millions of children, and hopefully prevent families from going through the same loss that Mira’s family has. Any donation is a huge help and a blessing to kids fighting cancer everywhere.