01/02/2026
Thank you Abeyta Family for always thinking of our families and for sharing your story:
A Journey of Light: The Abeyta Family's Story
To the UNMH Pediatric Oncology Staff and Our Generous Donors,
My name is Richard Abeyta, and I write this letter not from a place of sorrow, but from a place of profound gratitude and reflection. In May of 2007, my wife Ericka, our daughter Bianka, our son Ray, and I received news that would forever change the trajectory of our lives. Our son, Richard Abeyta Jr., just thirteen years old, was diagnosed with a mass in his head-a malignant brain tumor called Ganglioneuroblastoma.
I remember the weight of that word when the doctors first spoke it. The way it hung in the air between us. The way everything that once seemed solid suddenly felt like it was crumbling beneath our feet.
When the World Shifts
Richard Jr. would endure two craniotomy surgeries in 2008. Twenty-eight sessions of radiation at 5000 rads followed. Each treatment was a mountain we climbed together as a family. Ericka lost her job to become his full-time caregiver, and we survived on my income alone for several years. The financial pressure was crushing. The emotional toll was immeasurable.
Cancer tests everything. It tests your faith when you're on your knees asking God why. It tests your marriage when you're both drowning and trying to save each other at the same time. It tests your friendships, revealing who will stand with you in the fire and who will fade into the background. It tests your will to keep going when exhaustion seeps into your bones and hope feels like a luxury you can no longer afford.
We held fundraising dances. We organized car washes. And when we needed help most, it came-from people we knew and from strangers whose generosity reminded us that goodness still exists in this world. We are forever grateful.
The Legion of Light
I've seen what cancer does to families. Many lose everything-their savings, their homes, their marriages. Some emerge from the battle so fundamentally changed that they barely recognize themselves. But for us, something different happened. We didn't break. We became stronger. We grew closer to each other and closer to our faith. This became the fight of our lives, and we refused to fight it in darkness.
The third floor of the UNMH Pediatric Oncology Department became sacred ground for our family. We cried so many tears on those floors-tears of sadness, yes, but also tears of joy. We became part of a fraternity, a special group of staff and families who understood what it meant to walk through fire together.
And in the midst of treatments and hospital stays and uncertainty, there were moments of light. Each visit, my son and his siblings received a toy-donations from beautiful people like you. Those moments of joy, watching them play and forget, even for just a little while, why we were there-those moments were blessings beyond measure.
A Fighter's Spirit
There were whispers. There were doubts. People questioned what Richard Jr.'s cognitive abilities would be after everything his young brain had endured. The surgeries. The radiation. The trauma. They wondered about his capabilities, his future, his quality of life.
But my son is a fighter.
Richard Jr. didn't just survive-he defied every limitation placed before him. He proved every doubt wrong with quiet determination and unwavering resilience. He pushed through when others said he couldn't. He rebuilt himself when the world questioned if he would ever be whole again. Every accomplishment, every milestone, every victory over the odds became a testament to his extraordinary spirit.
His journey is nothing short of inspiring. He showed his siblings what true courage looks like. He showed us, his parents, what perseverance means when the stakes are life itself. He showed the medical staff that miracles happen through the combination of science and an indomitable will. And he continues to inspire everyone who hears his story-a reminder that the human spirit, when tested, can rise to heights we never imagined possible.
We even made it to Disney World through the Make-A-Wish Foundation-a trip that felt like stepping into a dream after living in a nightmare for so long. Watching Richard Jr. smile, watching all my children laugh together in that magical place, reminded me that even in our darkest valleys, there are mountaintops waiting. That trip wasn't just a vacation; it was a celebration of a fighter who refused to quit.
Today and Tomorrow
Today, Richard Jr. is thirty-one years old and cancer-free. He has a fiancee named Aalyah and a beautiful four-year-old daughter named Aria. When I hold my granddaughter, when I see her father-my son-healthy and whole, I am overwhelmed by the goodness of God.
It is beautiful and mysterious how the Lord shapes us through our trials. How He tests us not to break us, but to forge us into something stronger. I would not change a thing about our journey, because it brought us here-to this moment of gratitude, of wholeness, of light.
To the staff at UNMH Pediatric Oncology: You are warriors. You hold families together when they're falling apart. You bring expertise and compassion in equal measure. You matter more than you will ever know.
To our donors: Your generosity creates moments of joy in the midst of unimaginable pain. Every toy, every smile, every moment of forgetting-you made those possible. You helped carry us when we couldn't carry ourselves.
The Legion of Light
I call all of us-the families, the fighters, the staff, the donors, the survivors-The Legion of Light. We are bound together by something sacred. We understand what it means to fight in the darkness and refuse to let the darkness win.
I appreciate every single day I have to help these kids and families with your support. Every donation, every prayer, every act of kindness creates ripples that extend far beyond what you can see.
Let's keep shining bright. Let's keep the pathway lit for the families who are just beginning this journey, who are standing where we once stood, terrified and uncertain. Let's show them that there is light on the other side. That faith and perseverance can carry you through anything. Even when everything is crumbling, there are always blessings if we have eyes to see them. Thank you for being part of our story. Thank you for being part of The Legion of Light. With profound gratitude and unwavering faith,
Very Truly Yours,
**Richard Abeyta**
For the Abeyta Family: Ericka, Bianka, Ray, Richard Jr., Aalyah, and Aria
