“Before games, he doesn’t really talk at all,” McDonald said.
Perhaps it’s because Miller discovered, earlier than most children, that life can give you a lot to ponder, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s time to figure everything out.
Ellen Miller was in her early 40s when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer — one of the most deadly forms of the disease — in 1999. Danny, the youngest of four boys, was only 8 at the time.
According to the American Cancer Society, ovarian cancer ranks fifth in cancer deaths among women. The group estimated that about 20,000 women in the U.S. will develop ovarian cancer this year, and about 15,000 women will die from it in the same time frame.
His mother tried to shield him from the gravity of her illness and the misery of chemotherapy by resting while Danny was at school. And for awhile, it worked. Miller said he first understood how sick his mother was when she made the decision to shave off what was left of her hair.
Miller, Helfrich, and McDonald aren’t just linked through their childhood follies. Helfrich and McDonald and their respective families were available to offer support when Ellen was diagnosed and going through treatment.
The families offered some sanctuary and normalcy for Danny, and McDonald’s mother would make dinners to send to Ellen.
“We pretty much tell each other whatever’s going through our lives,” McDonald said. “We’re pretty close.”
Ellen has been cancer-free since 2004.
For the 2006 Relay for Life, Miller wrote an honorarium for his mother, which now occupies a sacred space on the Millers’ refrigerator.
