maddie james foundation | Breezy Mama

It’s Time! The Maddie James Seaside Learning Center is Here!

May 2, 2013 By Alex 2 Comments

It’s been two years since 5-year-old Maddie James captured the hearts of the nation with her love of the ocean and the animals living in it. For those of you who have been long time Breezy readers, you’ll remember how Maddie’s life tragically ended when an inoperable tumor was found. As soon as she heard […]

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Filed Under: The Breeze Tagged With: Maddie James, maddie james foundation, mile for maddie, Ocean Institute

Two mothers. Two daughters. One love.

September 29, 2011 By Alex 6 Comments

The past eight months have been somewhat of a blur for Kajsa James, mother of Maddie, who was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in January and passed away eight weeks later in March of this year. Between processing her daughter’s sudden and fatal diagnosis, and co-founding the Maddie James Foundation, which raised $1 million […]

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Filed Under: The Breeze Tagged With: autism causes, autism in children, autism programs, autism spectrum quotient, autism support, brain stem cancer, brain stem tumor, children with autism, Dana Point, Hope 4 Hanna, Hope for Hanna, maddie james foundation, maddie james seaside learning center, Ocean Institute, pontine glioma, tumor in the brain stem, what is DIPG

Maddie James: A Little Girl Who Captivated a Nation

May 24, 2011 By Alex 12 Comments

This past Friday, at the Reaching for the Sea Stars Gala, The Maddie James Foundation realized their goal of raising one million dollars for the naming rights to the new Seaside Learning Center at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point. We watched the sea turtle fill up as the night progressed, and as it turned […]

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Madeleine Reese James: June 11, 2005 – March 13, 2011

March 17, 2011 By Alex 14 Comments

For eight weeks I never put my phone down. For eight weeks I kept the phone by my bed as I slept. And then, exactly on that eighth week, I got the call. Kajsa’s name popped up on the screen. Since we had been communicating purely through texts and emails, I knew this was it. […]

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Filed Under: The Breeze Tagged With: brain tumor, dana point festival of whales, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, dipg, festival of whales parade, maddie james foundation, malignant brain tumor, ocean institute expansion plans, ocean intitute, pediatric cancer, sea turtles, seaside learning center, what is DIPG

Explaining Death to Children

March 7, 2011 By Alex 4 Comments

This past November, Coco the Goldfish passed away after five long years of living in the Ota household. I got Coco in January of 2005 as “decoration” for an open house that we had at work. (It was an Asian theme, and we placed goldfish in bowls all around the office.) Everyone kept one, and […]

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Filed Under: How to Parent Tips Tagged With: children's books on death, explaining death to children, how to explain death when you are not religious, how to explain to a child when a friend is dying, Inc., maddie james foundation, Russell P. Friedman, THE GRIEF RECOVERY HANDBOOK, The Grief Recovery Institute Educational Foundation, what to say when someone dies, WHEN CHILDREN GRIEVE - For Adults to Help Children Deal with Death

Maddie: A Story of Courage and Heart

February 24, 2011 By Alex 20 Comments

I clearly remember when I found out my good friend Kajsa was pregnant. A small group of us were gathered at her house in Laguna Beach, planning on having a few drinks before heading out for the night. Kajsa was drinking her beer out of a glass and I thought to myself, “That’s fancy; she […]

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Filed Under: The Breeze Tagged With: Aquarium of the Pacific, brain cancer, brain stem, CHOC in Orange, Deep Infiltrating Pontine Glioma, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, dipg, donating to pediatric cancer, environmental science, inoperable, maddie james foundation, maddie james seaside learning center, malignant brain tumor, maritime history, Ocean Institute, oceanography, pediatric cancer, sea camp, Sea World, seaside learning center, spinal cord, what is DIPG

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