FanPost

OT: Please send this kid a birthday card

I badly want to front page this [Editor's Note: This has been front paged - SS], but in all honesty it has zero to do with the Jets or the NFL. In spite of this, I hope you'll give me and this young boy a couple of seconds of your time. BIG props to David Fucillo of Niners Nation for not only promoting the story, but he actually forwarded it to the 49ers PR team in hopes of getting the word out.

Just a disclaimer, this kid is from Foxboro. When you hear his story I doubt you'll care about his geographical location, but I bring this up for two reasons. 1.If you live in the NY area your mail can logistically reach him in time for, or at least around his birthday on Friday and 2.I'm hoping against all hope somebody connected to Robert Kraft or the Patriots organization might somehow find the news story on this boy by the 25th and either use their bullhorn to spread his story, or just do something nice for the kid themselves.

On Friday of the 25th of July later this week, I will be another year older. How old exactly I don't really care to say. Let's just put it like this: If you can't drink I'm ancient compared to you, and if you're 30 or older you'd likely call me a whippersnapper and start lecturing me on how back in your day you had to walk in the snow uphill both ways to Circuit City and back to get some blank CDRs.

Usually on the 25th of July every year I go to this place alone. Sometimes I guide tourists I find wandering around the dangerous escarpment trail above the falls, other times I just go deep into the woods to be in solitude. It's also a popular "whoopee" spot for locals of all ages so while it is mostly family friendly, scout ahead if you're bringing your kids unless you want them to get a crash course in sex ed.

I don't remember the last time I received a birthday gift or wishes or so much as a Happy Birthday from someone (edit: this actually isn't true when I think about it, I have one really awesome extended family member that gets a hold of me every year). I think it was about 20 years ago. I lost most of my family when I was very young, and the rest of them are estranged. My friends usually don't know when it is because I don't tell them. Back when I still had a Facebook I would turn it off because I didn't want a bunch of strangers reminding me I was older.

But this year is different. This year I want you to know. This year I want something from you, I need you to do this one thing for me. Do it for your favorite rapidly aging/balding Jets writer. For my birthday this year, I want you to send a birthday card. But there's a catch. I don't want you to send it to me, I want you to send it to a cute kid who shares my birthday and is having a rough go of it.

I have a great life, filled with the best and most supportive friends/people I could ever ask for (including you guys). I'll be honest, sometimes instead of enjoying life for all it is worth, I throw myself a pity party or bum around. This week I'll be living it to its fullest, and for that I should thank Danny Nickerson for putting things into perspective.

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via cdn.abclocal.go.com (taken from the families Facebook page)

This is Danny Nickerson. He is 5 years old. Because he is awesome, he was also born on July 25th just like yours truly. You can read his story here.

A 5-year-old boy with an inoperable brain tumor has one wish for his birthday: a box full of birthday cards with his name on them.

Danny Nickerson, from Foxboro, Massachusetts, was diagnosed with an inoperable and chemotherapy-resistant tumor this past October. He has stopped going to kindergarten during therapy, and gets lonely, according to his family.

"He can recognize his name now," the boy's mother Carley Nickerson told ABC News. "When he saw his name on the package from magical fairies on Easter, he was so happy."

Nickerson says personalized cards make Danny happy, and has opened a P.O. box to collect letters from well-wishers.

Doctors say less than 10% of children diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, like Danny, live beyond 18 months.

"I don't really believe in that," Nickerson says. "He is doing great. Every day is a blessing for us."

You can (please do!) send Danny cards at the following address:

Danny Nickerson
P.O. Box 212
Foxboro, MA 02035

I know he's from the shadows beyond the Prides Land from which we are forbidden from ever going, but he's in freaking Kindergarten and doesn't deserve to be going through this. All he wants for his birthday is for people to care, and to read his name on some birthday cards. It's kind of late notice (only 4 days left) but if you're from the Northeast and send one out soon there's a decent chance he'll get it in time. Even if he doesn't, I'm sure he wouldn't mind some belated birthday greetings.

Here is the card I got Danny. I smudged the ink and messed up the ampersand at the end. Danny's handwriting is probably much better than mine.

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I know it's kind of lame, but I wanted to get something that a young person might kind of like. When you open it up, it plays the chicken dance. I was going to get him a Superman card that played music, but it had a joke about getting fat inside, and I was much more into Marvel(TM) heroes myself growing up. Superman is like the vanilla ice cream/Honda Civic/Northface jacket of superheroes. I was an X-Men kid myself.

Hard to go wrong with the chicken dance.

I hope he likes it. I hope he gets a lot of cards, too. Most of all, I hope he has many more birthdays.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

This is a FanPost written by a registered member of this site. The views expressed here are those of the author alone and not those of anybody affiliated with Gang Green Nation or SB Nation.