Conversation LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT A Mother's Legacy BY STEVEN GIALLOURAKIS I 4 would like to tell you all a little story. It is about a parent's love, a family's love and what they would do during some of their darkest hours. In November of 2008, for the second time in just two years, this family was told that their youngest son had cancer. Unlike his first cancer, it was not a tumor. This was leukemia, and 70 percent of his bone marrow was cancerous. Treatment would not be able to save his life. They were told that the only way to save him was to find him a bone-marrow donor. It is easier to find a heart for transplant then it is to find a bone-marrow donor. His chances of survival were dismal. ELEPHANTSANDTEA.COM MARCH 2022 Reality had smacked them in the face again. The family knew that survival rates for adolescents and young adults hadn't changed in 30 years. They understood what would most likely happen to their son. They already had done everything within their power to make him feel safe and loved. They prayed in church, and they prayed with friends. They researched and talked to the experts to understand everything they could about his disease. And most importantly, they sat there with him when no one else would. They became his best friends. All of this would have been enough to make them incredible human beings, but these parents understood something that turned out to be momentous - they had the ability to help others. They were not content just with ensuring their sonhttp://www.ELEPHANTSANDTEA.COM