This frog sits in the corner of my bedroom window beside a poster that has a picture of my son, Keaton, with his oncologist, Dr. Pete Anderson. Keaton and Dr. Pete shared a birthday and this picture was Keaton’s last.
The frog was Keaton’s. He was obsessed with reptiles and amphibians. He was an expert herpetologist at an early age, and when he was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a childhood bone cancer, at not yet 13 years old, he was determined to beat the disease and focused on his goal of exploring and doing research in the rain forest.
He fought for three and a half years as we traveled the world in search of a cure.
The cancer monster took him at 15.
I still keep his frog in my bedroom window.