March 29, 2013, (Good Friday) God called Dalton James Andrew
home to Heaven. Dalton was surrounded by
his family who stayed by side through his courageous battle with brain
cancer. His funeral was held April 5,
2013 and a few members of the Crusaders team were able to attend. His service was a true testament to this
young man’s influence and encouragement to those around him. His family and friends shared beautiful
stories of Dalton’s courage, his joys, his passion for life, and his knowledge
that he was going to Heaven and what that would be like. Dalton’s story reached people all across the
world through his Facebook page and through wonderful people sharing their love
for him.
The following day was the Miles for Hope walk to benefit the
research for brain cancer. Last year,
Dalton was the Ambassador for the walk.
This year, the day was bittersweet for everyone who knew Dalton. We were all proud to be there to represent
and honor Dalton, but surely missed his presence. The Crusaders provided Superman tattoos to
Dalton’s family and friends that represented the tattoo that Dalton wanted as a
part of his “bucket list of hope”. It
was amazing to see how such a simple thing brought so many people a smile on a
day that was so full of emotion. Prior
to the start of the walk, Dalton’s mom released a balloon for him and it looked
for one breath stopping moment like it would float right into the trees and
pop! That beautiful symbol of love
snaked its way right through those sharp branches and floated straight up to
Heaven! The crowd clapped and cheered and breathed a sigh of relief. The Crusaders Royalty team was at the
starting line of the walk and it was kicked off by Lead Queen, Ali. What an inspiration it was to see all of
these people there to support people they knew and did not know all with a
common purpose. The Royalty team cheered
all of the walkers/runners on from start to finish! After the walk was over,
the Royalty team helped to give out some awards and got to meet the Ambassador
for this year. Then they had the honor
of starting off the Survivor Walk and walking with some amazing individuals and
their families. The day was absolutely
beautiful and was an amazing success in more ways than one!