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Remembering 8-year-old girl who lost battle with cancer

Posted at 7:00 PM, May 01, 2014
and last updated 2014-05-02 11:29:48-04

Photographs capture wonderful moments in time! Let us savor the early years and moments of Reese.

In a visual world, it's one way to get to know a tough little girl with a larger than life spirit!

She has an equally tough mom, named Melissa.

The diagnosis was anything but simple and extremely difficult to treat.

It was that and worse: a type of cancerous tumor that attacked the brain and spine.

It took the family from CHKD and eventually to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The prognosis was grim.

Together mother and daughter waged a battle. Reese and her courageous fight was featured in a magazine.

Sitting in a doctor’s office, Melissa learned that her little girl was inspiring others when she was approached by a couple that read the story.

Reese had multiple surgeries, chemo, radiation therapies before doctors sent her home to enjoy the rest of her time with her family.

On the day of our visit, the medicine had swollen her body, but it did not deflate her sense of humor when chiding her brother.

A hospice provider comes to the home to help care for Reese, and  Melissa treasures every day she spends with her daughter. And slowly she's coming  to terms with her legacy, her purpose.

And through it all, Melissa says Reese faced medical challenges like a soldier.

When we visited Reese and her mom, she was seven-years-old.

She lived eight days past her eighth birthday.