Boy Slipped Marine A Secret Note. He Read It & Immediately Called For Backup!

A Mysterious Encounter in Washington

The US Marine was halfway down the lawn of the mall in Washington when something tugged at his sleeve. It was a young boy, maybe eight or nine years old.

The Marine immediately went down on his hunches to look the boy in the eyes. No words came out of the youngster’s mouth.

With big eyes and a lot of uncertainty in his whole demeanor, he slipped a note into the Marine’s hand. Then he turned around and ran back in the direction he came from.

Perplexed, the Marine unfolded the note and read it. The words on the slip of paper rang like alarm bells in his head.

He rose to his feet in a flash, dug his cell phone from his pocket, and dialed a number. He had to get backup and get it now.

A Mother’s Heartbreaking Secret

Eight-year-old Keenan Williamson sat at the kitchen table of the tiny apartment he shared with his mom. He was doing his homework and waiting for the half-hour he’d get to spend with her.

She left for work at 5:00 a.m. every morning and then came home at around 5:00 in the afternoon. For 30 minutes, she would listen to Keenan’s stories about his day.

They’d eat something together and then she would rush out to be in time for her second job. Keenan knew she did everything in her power to make ends meet and he knew what it took out of her.

He could see it in her exhausted eyes, in her slumped shoulders, even in her face when she tried to smile. At 5:05, Keenan stood up from the kitchen table to open the apartment door for her.

He was just in time to see her coming up the stairs to the front door. She was looking particularly tired today and by her frown, he knew she was carrying something else in her heart, something that was upsetting her greatly.

They hugged each other and held hands as they walked into the apartment. She sat at the kitchen table with him for a while in silence.

He could see she was working up the courage to tell him something and he let her be. She would say what she had to when she was ready.

Keenan reached across the small round table and rested his eight-year-old hand on hers. Jennifer Williamson looked at her son.

She didn’t know how to tell him; it would shatter the little bit of peace he had and upend his entire young life. But she had no choice; he had to know.

After all, he was all she had and she was all he had. They were two against the whole wide world.

“Keenan,” she started. “I need you to be brave. I have something to tell you.”

Already she could see the concern on his little face. It broke her heart.

Keenan grew up so fast after his dad left. Almost instinctively, he started to pick up the slack around the apartment while she was at work.

He washed the dishes and cleaned the living room, and nothing was ever out of place in his bedroom. If she let him, he’d do the washing too, but she wasn’t ready to load that onto his tiny shoulders too.

He already seemed to know and understand too much for his young age. Jennifer took a deep breath, steadied herself, took both his hands in hers, and told him she’d been to the doctor twice in the past three weeks.

The first time was to run some tests and the second time, which was today, was to get the results. The results were not good.

She had cancer in her breast. The doctor told her about the various treatment options, but her prognosis was far from good.

At most, the doctor had told her she had six months to live. Jennifer tried to use the lightest possible words and not burden her son more than she had to, but she didn’t think downplaying it would help him in the long run when the hard truth was out there.

She watched Keenan carefully. She saw his young face scrunch up as the news sunk in.

His eyes watered up and he wiped the tears away with the back of his hand. Jennifer squeezed his hand.

She promised him she was going to fight this illness with all her might, but that was going to cost money. The treatments were expensive, so was the medication she would need.

She wouldn’t be able to work as many hours anymore and that meant they would have to make do with less money. By this time Jennifer was crying too.

In front of her eyes, Keenan’s demeanor changed. He did that thing he did to comfort her; for a little while, he became an adult.

When he put on his brave face, he instantly looked ten years older, and that’s what he was doing now. He was showing her he had her back and that he would do absolutely anything that needed to be done to make sure she got better.

But in her heart, Jennifer knew there was no getting better this time. She squeezed his hands again and told him the rest.

“Because I can’t work as much anymore, we’re not going to have the fun Christmas we planned, Keenan,” she said with a shaky voice.

For six months Jennifer had put away a little bit of money every week with one aim only: to create the most amazing Christmas cheer Keenan had ever experienced. For a month now, during the little bit of time they had together, they’d laughed, planned, dreamed, and got excited about this Christmas.

It was going to be a dream festive season regardless of the hardships they faced. Keenan flashed a weak smile.

“It doesn’t matter, Mommy,” he said. “We’ll still make it great. We’ll be together and all the things we wanted to do this year can wait until next year when you’re all better.”

Jennifer didn’t know how to tell him next Christmas… well, she just didn’t know how to tell him.