I am so broken hearted.

My friend's 7-year-old son, Max Mikulak, passed away this weekend.    He has been fighting neuroblastoma (an aggressive form of pediatric cancer) for 4 years now and he finally succumbed to the disease on Sunday night.  

I have posted about him several times, and more recently here, but I guess that our prayers to chase away the cancer monsters did not work (at least in this world).  And if they did work, God did hear them and Max is now in heaven, chemo and radiation-free, pain-free, having all the popsicles his heart desires and having victorious light saber duels over Darth Vader.

I met Max only once, several months ago at the beach.  But through his father who is my friend and colleague, I felt like I knew him so well - between their blog, their photos and stories about Max, I felt like he taught us some very important life lessons about living life to its fullest potential...living life to the Max.   And all of this was engendered from his parents who have given us incredible examples.   He and his wife Melissa, are two of the strongest and most admirable people I know.   

Sweet dreams, beautiful Max.