Wyss: Toddler’s memory lives on in McHenry

Big blue eyes gaze out from under a bald head that rests in the toddler’s hand as he looks toward the camera lens.

His expression is neither happy nor sad, perhaps a bit tired.

The image is sharp; the 2-year-old, beautiful. The headline accompanying the photo, however, is not.

“Toddler loses cancer fight” certainly was not the outcome the community prayed for as McHenry-area residents and Northwest Herald readers began following last winter the story of Jackson Grabow’s battle against a brain tumor.

Doctors discovered the tumor Dec. 31, 2008. Jackson underwent surgery and had the pingpong ball-sized growth removed. His mother, Donna Grabow, and father, Brandt Grabow, had been taking Jackson to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin for chemotherapy treatments when, in early April, Jackson took a turn for the worse.

On a Saturday, he was admitted to Children’s Hospital, and on the next day, April 5, he died.

Some people live decades without having as much of an impact on others as did this young boy. News of his cancer fight went public in February in a story that included video footage of Jackson doing what 2-year-olds do: pushing a toy truck, playing “light sabers” with his dad, and burying his face in the couch next to his mom. It also showed him doing what no 2-year-old should ever have to do: sitting in a hospital bed, being extraordinarily brave as health care workers prepared another treatment.

The community rallied. McHenry High School students – some of whom knew of the family’s plight early on because they worked at a child care center with Jackson’s parents – dedicated a portion of their St. Baldrick’s Day proceeds to the Grabows in March.

Residents cheered when at first it appeared that Jackson was responding well to treatment. And they cried after learning of the inspiring boy’s sharp decline and death. Many of the students touched by Jackson attended the funeral, and many planned to attend Thursday night’s street dedication ceremony.

On Thursday night, McHenry officials declared the intersection of Riverside Drive and Washington Street honorary Jackson Grabow Way.

It’s a spot near the home of Jackson’s grandparents – and it is one of the many places where the memory of this brave little boy will dwell.

• Cyndi Wyss is a Northwest Herald community editor. She can be reached at 815-526-4534 or cwyss@nwherald.com.