Since my dad was diagnosed with cancer, I've struggled to make sure that my kids were aware of the situation and comfortable enough to ask any questions they happened to conjure up. I don't want Grandpa's sickness to be a scary thing and I certainly want to prepare them for what lies ahead.

My five year old has been quiet about the whole situation and I contemplated whether or not he even understood what was going on. I didn't press the issue with him until he asked me:

"Mom, what color is cancer?"

Hmmm....I wan't sure how to answer. I thought about it for a minute and before I could reply he told me that he thought it was green. A little green alien invading Grandpa's lungs. I told C-dub that I thought he was right and I left it at that. I was happy that he was finally talking about it but I didn't want to confuse him with specifics. To me, he was processing the situation just fine and the sad parts could be left for the grownups.

The next day, Grandpa D stopped by for a visit. C-dub saw him arrive and again asked him the same question he had asked me. I think Grandpa D was taken back a bit because so far, he's only had adults asking him very specific questions about treatments and symptoms; nothing like this. Grandpa D told him told him he wasn't sure but that he'd find out. The conversation was left at that and I didn't think Grandpa D had thought much more about it.

The following week, Grandpa D had his lung biopsy done. When I finally spoke to him later that day, he told me to tell C-dub, "it was off-white." I didn't know what he was talking about and he reminded me of C-dub's question. I swallowed down tears when he explained to me how he had asked the doctor performing the biopsy what color his cancer was, because his grandson needed to know. Of all the things to worry about during this procedure, he still asked for the color.

I promised Grandpa D that I'd relay the message and I later did. C-dub contemplated the color for just a moment and again asked me, “It's weally not gween, Mom?" I assured him that it wasn't and explained to him about the procedure that Grandpa D had went through and how definitive the doctor's answer was. C-dud thought about it for a moment and then went back to playing with his Hotwheels, happy with the information he now had.