“In Loving Memory of Lola — Our Beautiful, Brave Baby Girl”.2439

💛 In Loving Memory of Little Lola 💛

(A story of love, courage, and a family who refused to stop believing)

Before everything changed, life for the Owsleys felt beautifully ordinary.

Lola was the youngest of three — the perfect final piece in the family Aaron and Naomi had always dreamed of.
Chubby cheeks, bright blue eyes, and a smile that seemed to hold the whole world.


She was ten months old, adored by her big brother Toby, age eight, and her sister Maya, age four.

“We wanted three kids, and everything was going just the way we planned,” Aaron would later say. “I almost feel naïve now, looking back. Of course, the wheels were going to fall off at some point.”

But when they did, nothing could have prepared them for how hard they’d fall.

🌼 The First Signs

It started small — little things that didn’t seem to matter.
Lola had just started daycare, and like many babies her age, she was picking up the usual colds and tummy bugs. A bit of nausea here, a mild fever there.

“We took her to the GP,” Aaron recalled. “He said it was probably just a tummy bug, and we dismissed it.”

Then, one Friday afternoon, everything shifted.
Lola was unusually tired, her energy slipping away.


By evening, she began vomiting. Naomi and Aaron rushed her to the hospital, where doctors ordered some tests and decided to keep her overnight.

The next morning, Naomi noticed something strange — Lola wasn’t using her left hand to feed herself.


“I told the doctor she’d been a bit funny about using her left-hand side,” Naomi said. “The doctor looked at her and asked, ‘Has she always had this asymmetrical smile?’”

Naomi scrolled through photos on her phone.
And that’s when it hit — the crooked smile had been there for weeks.

💔 The Diagnosis That Changed Everything

That night, Lola was taken for a CT scan. Naomi watched as the radiographer’s face changed, watched him pick up the phone, and in that instant, she knew.

A short while later, three doctors entered the room. Their expressions said what their words soon confirmed.

“There’s a tumour in there,” the neurosurgeon said quietly. “It’s big, and it’s deep.”

Aaron says those words will never leave him.

The next morning, Lola was taken into emergency surgery.
“We had to hand her over to the anaesthetist,” Aaron said, “not knowing what state she was going to come back in.”

Hours crawled by.
When the surgeon finally returned, he told them the tumour had been the size of a mandarin. He had removed everything he could see.

A few days later, the pathology report arrived — and with it, the name that would haunt their lives:


ETMR (Embryonal Tumour with Multilayer Rosettes) — an aggressive, rare brain cancer with almost no treatment options and a high chance of regrowth.

“There is no tailored treatment,” Aaron explained. “They just use high-dose chemotherapy. It’s brutal. But without it, there was no chance.”

🕯️ The First Birthday in Lockdown

As if cancer weren’t cruel enough, COVID lockdowns began just as Lola’s treatment started.
Only one parent was allowed to be with her at a time. Naomi stayed most days, holding her daughter close while Aaron juggled work and the older children at home.

“I was her comfort, and she was mine,” Naomi said softly. “We spent endless nights in that hospital room — just the two of us.”

When Lola’s first birthday arrived, lockdown meant no party, no friends, no visits.


But she was home.

“I will be forever grateful we got to spend Lola’s first birthday at home,” Naomi said. “The most important thing was that we were together.”

🌸 The Fight

Lola endured six rounds of chemotherapy, each lasting nearly a month.
After the fourth, an MRI showed residual cancer in her brain. She went through another surgery, then more chemo, along with physical and occupational therapy to regain movement on her left side.

“We started thinking about long-term impacts,” Aaron admitted. “Hearing loss, kidney damage… if she survived, these would be with her forever.”

The side effects came fast — endless vomiting, fevers, exhaustion.


Then came the moment Naomi will never forget.

“She woke up one night coughing, and I saw hair all over her pillow,” Naomi recalled. “She tried to put her dummy in and got clumps of hair in her mouth. My heart just broke.”

After chemo came radiation — five days a week, for five straight weeks.
Each morning, Lola was sedated and wheeled into the treatment room, tiny and brave, her parents watching through tears.

🎄 A Christmas of Hope

On Christmas Eve, the family received a gift they’d prayed for — Lola’s final round of treatment was complete.
She came home that night, and for a few precious weeks, she was herself again.
Laughing. Eating. Playing with her siblings.

They spent Christmas and New Year together, breathing in every moment.
For the first time in months, their home was filled with something that almost felt like peace.

🕊️ The News No Parent Should Hear

In early February, they took Lola for her follow-up MRI.
That afternoon, the phone rang.
The oncologist’s voice trembled. “The official report isn’t in yet,” he said, “but I don’t like what I’m seeing.”

Aaron’s chest went cold.
“That’s when we knew,” he said. “We knew in our hearts — that was it.”

A few weeks later, Lola had a seizure.
Her condition declined rapidly, and she was placed under palliative care.

Naomi and Aaron wanted her to spend her final days surrounded by love, not machines. They took the family on one last trip to the coast, and a friend arranged for a videographer to capture their moments together — laughter through tears, sunlight on her face, the ocean breeze brushing her bald head.

It was a weekend of beauty and heartbreak.

🌤️ The Final Goodbye

When Lola could no longer feed, she was readmitted to hospital.
But Naomi and Aaron made one last wish — to bring her home.

With the help of her care team, they did.
On March 26th, in her own bed, wrapped in her mother’s arms, surrounded by the love of her family — Lola took her final breath.

The house fell silent.
The world shifted forever.

🌼 Keeping Her Memory Alive

Since that day, Naomi and Aaron have made it their mission to keep Lola close.
Her name is spoken every day. Her photos still hang in their home.
Maya and Toby talk about her often — their baby sister, their angel.

“We try to keep Lola very much a part of the family,” Naomi said. “And as painful as it is, it warms my heart when the kids mention her.”

Aaron still struggles with the weight of it all. “She went through so much in her little life,” he said quietly. “I just feel guilty we couldn’t do more for her.”

But they are transforming their grief into purpose.
Recently, they attended a talk at the Children’s Cancer Institute, where they learned about breakthroughs in childhood cancer research.

“We can’t save Lola,” Naomi said, her voice steady but soft. “But we can help others. We can be part of the fight. In her name.”

Lola’s life was short — only fourteen months — but it was infinite in love.
She taught her family, and everyone who followed her story, what it truly means to fight, to hope, to love without measure.

In her memory, they keep moving forward — one day, one heartbeat, one act of kindness at a time.

Because love like Lola’s never fades.
It only changes form — from small hands once held, into light that never goes out.

💛

“Hulk’s Silent Wait: A Dog’s Loyalty After the Floods”.476

The waters had receded, but the destruction left in their wake was undeniable. The mighty Guadalupe River had flooded, engulfing everything in its path, tearing homes apart and scattering memories. For many, it was the end. But for one dog, it was just the beginning of a quiet, heart-wrenching wait.

Hulk, a brown pit bull with a heart full of loyalty, didn’t leave. Not even when the floodwaters ravaged everything he knew. When the river finally withdrew, revealing the devastation, Hulk found himself alone in the ruins of his family’s home, a place that was no longer there. The house was gone, carried away by the currents. All that remained was a lone, broken floorboard, weak and splintered beneath his paws.

Still, Hulk sat there, unwavering. He sniffed the air, ears perked, listening intently. He was waiting. Waiting for a smell, a sound, any sign that his family would return. He didn’t move. The world had been turned upside down, but he remained rooted to the spot, as if time had no meaning for him, only love.

One day passed. Then another. Days turned into weeks, and still, Hulk never budged from his place. His body grew thin, his fur matted, but his spirit remained resolute. He didn’t count the hours or days. He counted love. And love had told him to stay.

Neighbors, witnessing the pit bull’s quiet vigilance, reached out to Kerrville Pets Alive, the local rescue group. The rescuers arrived, searching through the debris for any signs of life. And there, amidst the wreckage, they found Hulk—alive, safe, but heartbreakingly sad. He had stayed, not because he knew how to survive, but because he was waiting for the people he loved to return.

Hulk had witnessed something most humans would never understand: love that transcended the passage of time. Dogs don’t count hours or days. They only count love. And sometimes, in the silence of waiting, that love is enough.

Hulk’s story is one of patience, loyalty, and the quiet promise that sometimes, love is worth waiting for, no matter how long it takes. He waited for a family that might never return, but in the process, he became the very embodiment of devotion. His story touched hearts and reminded everyone of the profound, unbreakable bond between a dog and their family.

Click the link in the comments to learn more about Hulk’s journey and the power of love that kept him waiting. 🖤🐾