Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Boys Sell Baseball Art To Help With Cancer Recovery
FARMINGTON — A recent diagnosis of stage four lung cancer concerning 64-yearold Deb Majors sent ripples throughout the household of her son, Josh Hall.
Josh and his wife, Amanda, and their son, Tristan, 10, experienced a cascade of emotions over the past six weeks.
“It comes in waves,” Josh said of the process dealing with his mother’s illness.
Deb remains upbeat in the midst of a personal health crisis, telling Josh, “Son, no matter what happens, Jesus has me.”
“She’s a warrior, she has no fear,” Josh said. “She’s relentless in her faith.”
One obstacle the family faces is a reluctance by the insurance company to approve a chemotherapy.
“She has to do three types of chemotherapy,” Josh said. “They are trying to deny one, it costs $10,000 per treatment.”
This particular chemo is projected to add five years to Deb’s life and is rated 40 percent more effective in treating cancer than other chemotherapies. Tristan, who plays catcher on an 11 & under traveling baseball team, wasn’t supposed to know about the costs involved, but, like any good catcher he keeps his ears finely tuned-in to his surroundings and overheard the discussion.
Immediately, Tristan set out to do what he could to give his “Meme” every chance to live. His first step was to complete five 12x18 paintings in a three hour period. Next he set up a lemonade stand in front of the family home at 51 Northaven in Farmington, selling his paintings and lemonade on Sunday afternoon.
One of his first lemonade customers was 15-year-old neighbor, Ethan Mallard, a rising sophomore at Farmington High School. Once Ethan found out what Tristan was doing he committed to combine his efforts in the initiative. Tristan stayed up until 1 a.m. Sunday morning making more paintings, and the boys set up the lemonade stand with a new flavor, pink lemonade, on Monday morning.
“Ethan, he’s a really good friend and he helps out a lot,” Tristan said.
Ethan’s grandmothers both battled cancer so he understands the seriousness of the situation. Tristan’s Meme had liver cancer, which progressed to lung cancer. She is undergoing treatment at Houston.
“She’s just an angel on earth,” said Josh Hall, Tristan’s dad and Meme’s son. “When she found out Tristan was doing this, it just melts her. It’s little things like this that make a difference.”
“I do love to paint, but I’m doing this for my Meme so she can get better,” Tristan said.
The boys engage one another in video games, but have temporarily set that aside while they man the lemonade stand. Tristan wears a necklace displaying a cross formed by a pair of baseball bats.
“I never take it off, I think it gives me the passion of baseball and I love it very much,” Tristan said. “I keep it on. I never take it off even when I sleep.”
The cross is symbolic of Tristan’s faith, and gives him a sense of empowerment to make a difference in Meme’s battle against cancer.
“I can because I know Christ can help her,” he said. “I love Jesus, always.”
As for his 11 & under traveling team, the Lindsey Dodgers, Tristan says, “We’re doing pretty good this summer. We’ve got some wins. Of course, you’re going to have some losses. We’ve done pretty good this year.”
So far, the lemonade stand has been a success at 51 Northaven in Farmington.
“We’ve been getting a lot of customers. They’ve been helping for Meme a lot. They’ve been praying,” Tristan said.
Those, who can’t stop by the boys’ lemonade stand, can get in touch with Tristan’s mother, Amanda Hall, at 479-595-9096 or email her at razorbacks78@yahoo.com.
Meme called Tristan Sunday afternoon while he and Ethan worked the stand.
“She’s very happy, she’s in a very happy cry mood,” Tristan said, explaining, “If I do anything I always think about her in love and treat her good. This is what I’m doing today in helping her fight the cancer.”
Grandmother and grandson share a love of baseball.
“We have a good relationship with baseball,” Tristan said. “We both love it very much. She loves to watch and I love to play and it’s kind of like the same thing.”
Tristan says one of the most important lessons he’s learned from Meme is simply, “Love the game.”