Our family was flying on a Make-A-Wish trip for my sick son — halfway through the flight, the pilot said, “Mike, there’s one thing about this trip that you and your parents know nothing about.”

Mike had been playing soccer in our backyard when he stopped chasing the ball.

He stood near the fence with one hand pressed against his side.

“Cramp?” I called.

He shook his head.

That night, he developed a fever.

Three days later, a doctor pulled two chairs close to his desk and explained that our eight-year-old had cancer.

By the time he used the word continue reading …