Elijah David King

3-31-2000 to 4-8-2005

Our youngest son Elijah David King was born on March 31,2000. He was a beautiful child who was intelligent, mischievous, and loving. He enjoyed cuddling with his mother playing with his father and his older brother Dante. Elijah was very headstrong and straightforward which I did not always think they were the best of characteristics. Later I would learn that he would need those qualities to help get him through his battle with Neuroblastoma.

In February of 2003 Elijah began having low-grade fevers and complaining of occasional belly pain. March 9th 2003 we were out of town for a family function and my usually fun loving little boy was miserable and inconsolable. Upon returning home we went to the doctor and were told Elijah had strep throat. The next morning he was worse. He could not stand so off to the emergency room we went and 11 hours later we were told he had a large tumor in his belly. On March 14th the official diagnosis came. It was Neuroblastoma stage 4 unfavorable histology. His oncologist told us we had a very serious situation on our hands.

Over the next 24 months Elijah would have 14 rounds of chemotherapy, a 6 1/2 hour surgery to remove 5 tumors and his left adrenal gland, a stem cell transplant, 6 weeks of radiation, 4 rounds of accutane, many hospitalizations, as well as countless scans, bone marrow biopsies and transfusions.

In March 2005 after much thought, prayers, and many tears his father and I decided we no longer had the right to put Elijah through treatment he no longer wanted and that most of all was no longer helping. We had gotten to the point where his quality of life meant much more to us so we took our son home and planned a huge celebration of life party for his 5th birthday. He enjoyed his party on March 17th and we even got to see him dance one last time.

In the early morning hours of April 8th Elijah gained his angel wings and will be pain free forever in the arms of Jesus UNTIL WE CAN BE TOGETHER AGAIN

A few of Elijah’s favorite things were to listen to music, dance, paint, play games, ride his bike and play with his dogs. I would like to share a poem that Dante wrote for his brother and had it read during his memorial service.


It rhymes with MAD - SAD
It rhymes with SLAPPY- HAPPY
It rhymes with TRY - CRY
It rhymes with EAR - TEAR
It rhymes with SEVEN -HEAVEN
It rhymes with ODD - GOD
It rhymes with RACE - SPACE
It rhymes with SUN - FUN
It rhymes with DOVE - LOVE
It rhymes with BOY - JOY
It rhymes with RIGHT- BRIGHT
It rhymes with START - HEART
ELIJAH