By Terra Avilla
Aubrey. Amayah. Alliyah. Yerington.
Whether it be college, high school, work, are just some of the places these young women should be. However, as I write this, all three of them are somewhere they never ever asked to be or deserved to be… in the middle of a fight for their 12-year-old brother’s life, while the rest of the world keeps moving.
Two and a half years ago, a night not that long before Thanksgiving took their dad. Suddenly. Without warning. And Ayden, just a little kid at the time, quietly became the man of the house. Before he let himself fall apart, he first made sure his sisters were okay. That’s who he is. That’s always been who he is.
And then cancer came. Stupid, ugly cancer.
These girls didn’t get a pause button. There was no gap year from grief, no break from being needed. Here is what should be happening right now. Aubrey, Amayah, and Alliyah should be rolling their eyes at their little brother for being annoying.
They should be arguing with him over the remote, telling him to stay out of their rooms, watching him run around the basketball court pretending to be embarrassed when he acts up in public, and then turning right around and defending him against anyone who looks at him wrong.
They should be sneaking him extra snacks, teaching him things their parents don’t know about, and having those dumb, meaningless arguments that you somehow remember forever with your siblings.
They should be living in the loud, messy, beautiful chaos of growing up with a 12-year-old boy who thinks he is hilarious and is honestly kind of right. That is what this season of life is supposed to look like. Instead, cancer came.
Now, three sisters are fighting a fight now big sister ever wants for their sibling. And they would not trade that fight for anything.
If you are unfamiliar with sweet Ayden’s story, Ayden doesn’t just have cancer. He unfortunately has something so rare that even the specialists studying it don’t have a full roadmap yet. As of now, traditional chemotherapy has not stopped the cancer.
The team at the National Institutes of Health isn’t just treating him. They are studying him, because his case may one day open doors for others who come after him. The oral chemotherapy formulated specifically for him did not work. His family shared an update they never wanted to-the tumors have grown and spread.
The next step is a surgery that will remove 80% of his stomach, parts of his liver, and affected lymph nodes.
And while all of that has been happening, his sisters have been standing in the gap.
We want to stop here for a moment. Because when this family comes up in conversation, Ayden’s name is always at the center — and it should be. But we also see these girls. We really see them.
Aubrey, Amayah, and Alliyah are not just somebody’s sisters. They are each their own person: strong, beautiful, and unique in ways that have nothing to do with what they are walking through right now.
They have their own dreams, their own personalities, their own light. They are navigating college and becoming Their own women while quietly holding her family together at the same time. They are standing in front of a room full of strangers and delivering speeches so honestly and so full of love that it left people sitting in silence.
They are present in every moment, giving in every way they how. These girls show up not because they have to, but because they are genuinely, deeply good people. The kind of young women that make you feel hopeful about the world just by watching them move through it.
They have shown up at fundraiser after fundraiser in this community. They have worked events, stood at tables, and carried their family’s story into every room they have entered. Not because someone told them to but because Ayden is their brother and that is what you do when someone you love is fighting for their life.
Every woman who has ever had a sibling understands that without needing it explained. It is not a decision you make. It is just who you are.
And sweet Tasia. She has already buried a partner. She is now watching her son face the hardest battle of his life while waiting for results that could reshape everything for her daughters. These girls hold her up. She holds them up. Somehow, they keep moving forward together. Tasia is a mother who has refused to break and I want her to know we see her too.
Tasia said it herself – if a cure or a breakthrough is ever found, maybe it starts with Ayden.
That is a mother’s hope. And it is a sister’s too.
This is why we love this place. Because this community has shown up for this family in ways they never expected. Because people here understand that when one family hurts, we all feel it. Because three young women are spending years of their lives that they will making sure their little brother knows he is loved and fought for and not alone.
We see you, Aubrey. We see you, Amayah. We see you, Alliyah. And we are so incredibly proud of the women you are… not just because of what you are doing for your brother, but because of simply who you are.
For Ayden. And for Aubrey, Amayah and Alliyah. Every woman who has ever had a sibling already knows why they do it. Because that is just what sisters do.
