One week after teenage cancer warrior Will Roberts was laid to rest, his mom is learning that sometimes grief and laughter can somehow exist in the very same moment.
One week after teenage cancer warrior Will Roberts was laid to rest, his mom is learning that sometimes grief and laughter can somehow exist in the very same moment.
Thousands of cards now cover the counter inside the Roberts family home, sent by people who prayed for Will, followed his bone cancer battle and fell in love with the teenager whose faith and personality touched people far beyond Alabama.
This weekend, Brittney finally began reading them.
And then there was Rebel.
Will’s dog was busy pulling envelopes from the trash, chewing the lining off the dining room bench and generally causing enough trouble that Brittney joked he was making her want to cuss on a Sunday.
Then Rebel walked over and rested his big head on her foot.
And his grieving mama smiled.
“Will could not have picked a better dog to leave behind as a constant reminder of himself in this house.”
It immediately brought back a memory.
Brittney says Will once got himself in trouble at clinic and apparently decided a compliment might help smooth things over.
“Mama… today your calves look big.”
“That was Will.”
And maybe that’s why this little moment hit me.
Because the funeral is over.
But Will is still everywhere in that house.
In the photographs.
In those piles of letters.
In the stories that suddenly make his family laugh.
And apparently in one mischievous dog who seems determined to make sure things never get too quiet.
So many people have asked Brittney what they can do for the family now.
Her answer is to help the little church that helped carry them through Will’s final chapter.
Wesley Chapel Community Church sits less than half a mile from their home. Brittney says the church began loving their family before they ever attended, even recognizing that Will’s sister Charlie was going through cancer alongside her brother.
Eventually, Will found a pastor there who knew his name, and the entire family found people willing to walk beside them through the unimaginable.
Now Brittney wants that love passed forward.
“Help our little church keep doing BIG things for the next family who needs them.”
What a beautiful way for Will’s story to keep going.
One week after his funeral, please keep praying for the Roberts family as they learn how to live without the 15-year-old who changed so many lives.
And maybe smile knowing that Rebel is still making sure a little bit of Will’s mischief lives on.
To honor W helpthe “little cill bying hurch” his family loves
