SEATTLE — KIRO 7 viewers helped harvest a beautiful bounty collected through grief.
Danielle and Kris Lentz delivered it in an SUV overflowing with Lego sets, colorful markers, Model Magic, and everything a child could want to express themselves through art.
They intended it as a tribute to their eldest child Jaxon’s 14th birthday.
Jaxon had been a patient at Seattle Children’s Hospital for the better part of four years. He was battling Ewing Sarcoma, and the talented young artist often worked through his feelings and challenges by creating drawings, paintings, and other art projects.
His art therapist, Michael Cardenas, persuaded him to make a piece that shared the story of his cancer journey.
It was called “The Line Between.” It was a self-portrait split in two: on one side, Jaxon with his trademark smile, his video games, the sports he loved, and his full hair. On the other side, images representing “chemo brain,” the toxic medicine he had to take, and his dimming smile.
Words don’t do it justice: you just have to see it.
So, the FIFA Local Organizing Committee made sure you would.
As part of their art legacy project, they put it right in the middle of the city, on a monorail column at 5th Ave and Stewart during the World Cup.
Jaxon never saw it there. He died last September.
KIRO 7 did a story with the Lentz family to explain the backstory to the portrait.
Their love and loss resonated, and hundreds of viewers donated art materials to Seattle Children’s Hospital.
The markers, paints, and kits came pouring in. So did the messages of support for the Lentz family:
“In honor of Jaxon’s birthday. May we all keep on building more beautiful things in this world.”
“Happy birthday, Jaxon! Your life continues to make a difference.”
“Jaxon, your story touched my heart.”
Surrounded by the piles of donations, Danielle described Jaxon’s bittersweet birthday.
“It has really brought a lot of light and joy to us in a time that’s been so heavy and tender to us,” she said. “We didn’t know how we were going to get through his birthday this year, but this was so uplifting for our family, and we are grateful.”
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