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Jul 13, 2009

"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired." --Mother Teresa

A Beloved Ritual By Ironworkers in Boston

Every day, children who come to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute write their names on paper and tape them to the windows of the walkway for ironworkers to see. And, every day, the ironworkers paint those names onto I-beams and hoist them into place as they add floors to the new building they're constructing. The building's steel skeleton is now a brightly colored, seven-story monument to scores of children receiving treatment at the clinic -- Lia, Alex, and Sam; Taylor, Izzy, and Danny. For the young cancer patients, who press their noses to the glass to watch new names added every day, the steel and spray-paint tribute has given them a few moments of joy and a towering symbol of hope. "It's fabulous," said 18-month-old cancer patient Kristen Hoenshell's mother, Elizabeth. "It's just a simple little act that means so much."