Nothing to do with horses at all.

If you're in the WNY area, you've heard about Blue4Ben.  If you're not in the area, here's the summary:  In late January/early February, a 4 year old boy named Ben was diagnosed with Stage IV Glioblastoma, a brain cancer that usually hits middle aged men.  He had surgery to remove as much of the tumor as possible and started chemotherapy.  Within a couple of weeks, the tumor had tripled in size.  He was given a few weeks to live.  His mother had started a blog for family and friends to follow, but it quickly spread all over the area, with fundraisers and just a huge outpouring of support.  It was called Blue4Ben because blue was his favorite color, and also what he was usually dressed in to help distinguish him from his identical twin brother.  It's pretty incredible to be driving down the road and see stores and restaurants using their signs and message boards to advertise Blue4Ben, or drive through town and realize that all the houses have blue lights over their front doors to show support for Ben and his family.

Tuesday evening, about a week after Ben's 5th birthday, Ben died.  He left behind his parents, his twin brother, a younger sister, and his unborn baby sister.

His mother posted this blog entry Wednesday evening.  Not gonna lie, I sat in my room reading the post with tears streaming down my face.  I truly cannot fathom how his family has gotten through all this.  I'm just awed by their strength.  I went to the barn to give Riv his medicine and just spent a while cuddling with him.