Sweet Layla Grace & the TRUE value of online community

Like so many mamas online today, I am grieving the loss of a sweet toddler girl I never actually met, little Layla Grace, who died at home yesterday after a short but very intense battle with a particularly cruel form of childhood cancer called Neuroblastoma. Layla Grace was the same age as my youngest child.

Layla Grace

I learned about Layla Grace’s battle – and her mother’s blog about that battle – from my sister and other friends on Facebook. In recent months, mothers from coast to coast and beyond have been following Layla’s battle and her parents’ struggle until the end came yesterday. Layla’s mother’s blogging and Twitter posts were eloquent and brutally honest. By bravely sharing her family’s heartbreaking journey, Layla’s mama helped raise awareness about Neuroblastoma in a way nothing ever has before. Through her sensitive blogging, Layla’s mother also led other moms all over the world to rethink their frustration with that day’s toddler tantrum or the sleepless night spent nursing the baby or the preschooler’s crayon masterpiece on the new sofa. After hearing of Layla’s latest day spent in the hospital or declining at home in her parents’ bed, a little mess in our own homes or another fit at the grocery store seemed like a blessing rather than an annoyance. Reading Layla’s mother’s posts, we knew she would give anything to have just one more “normal” day with her beautiful two year old daughter, frustrations and messes included.

There but by the grace of God, we all thought as we read about little Layla.

Parents who followed Layla Grace’s illness and passing also bonded online, becoming a real, vibrant community of caring around this lovely child and her parents, demonstrating what I’ve known about social media for a long time now. While I make my living helping companies use online tools and platforms to reach out to consumers, I approach my job with HUGE respect for the “community” and “social” elements of the work that I do. These relationships we forge online are real and meaningful and can change lives; they aren’t just vehicles for marketing. The online community that grew up around Layla Grace’s journey demonstrated that. It’s a beautiful thing, and the reason I’ve been singing the praises of this thing called social media for more than a decade now; online community and relationships can be a truly meaningful part of our lives if we approach them with the same respect and honor that we accord to our “real” relationships.

I didn’t know Layla Grace in person, and I’ve never met her parents. But I can tell you right now that the sadness I feel about Layla’s death isn’t “virtual” in any way. It’s very, very real.

Rest in peace, Layla Grace.

And to all of you reading this, I hope you give your babies – no matter what age they may be – an extra hug today.