Inviting people blog | Patient blogs | Children with Cancer UK

About this blog

Mrs Brown’s Blogs - an honest and frank account of life, family and education. Her blogs provided an emotional outlet for her to tell the world exactly how heartbreaking but also inspiring it is to watch your child go through treatment for cancer.
Blogs written by Kerry

Patient Name: Felix
Cancer Type: Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia
Age when diagnosed: 10

Please invite people who might say no

23rd May 2019

Invites bring opportunities for laughter, fun and growth

As a family, we have always had a ‘yes’ policy. If we get an invite, we say ‘yes’ unless there is a reason why we can’t. Invites bring opportunities for laughter, fun and growth – we always, when we can, say yes. Unfortunately, in the past few years we haven’t been able to say yes, we have dithered or even defaulted to ‘no’ – just in case. Now, those invites have dried up.

This isn’t a call for sympathy

I can count on one hand when we have been invited to something in the last year. This isn’t a call for sympathy – it is a call for people to keep inviting people even though they might say no. This is even more so if life isn’t going as smoothly as it should be. In the last three years, the invites have dwindled. We are strolling down a ‘divergent’ path. I want to take this opportunity to thank those who have invited us for dinner or coffee or a walk to help us take our mind off things. I want to thank those who keep asking even if we have had to cancel or postpone. This is the nature of the beast.

Please keep inviting them even if they say no

If you know someone who is going through something different, or tough or you just love them – please keep inviting them even if they say no. One day they will say yes. My heart is with all those families who are venturing down that unknown and divergent path. This blog was originally published on Kerry’s blog on 11 April 2019. If you’d like to share your story, email stories@childrenwithcancer.org.uk

Patient Stories

A day in the life of Laraib

Find out what 24 hours is like for a child suffering from childhood cancer.

Donate - Primary

We have no government funding and rely entirely on generous donations from our supporters.

Research projects

Find out about what we are funding right now to try and tackle childhood cancer.

Please invite people who might say 'no'