By Carole Caine, Special to OnMilwaukee.com   Published May 26, 2010 at 4:38 PM

A personal experience of Children's Hospital, from a listener:

My 17-year-old niece, Rachel Rushing, was a patient of Dr. Margolis and Dr. VanWhy, among others, at Children's Hospital in early 2008. Rachel was a junior at Union Grove High School. She had Crohn's disease, which led to complications of a rare disease called HLH. After 10-1/2 weeks of receiving outstanding compassion and care in the HOT Unit and ICU of Children's Hospital, Rachel passed away on April 8, 2008.

My sister Monica wrote the following poem on the one-year anniversary of Rachel's passing, and she would like to share it with your listeners, and especially with those parents who have lost a child.

A TRIBUTE TO RACHEL

A year has passed since we said good-bye;

A year to mourn, a year to cry.

A year to reflect on the love she brought;

A year to remember the battle she fought.

The mountain she climbed was ever so steep;

The valley she walked through, ever so deep.

But she did not climb the mountain alone;

We were right there with her on her journey home.

We could not go with her when she reached the top.

Though we still had the strength, we had to stop.

For Jesus was standing there waiting for her.

He was her answer; He was her cure.

Now we find ourselves back in the valley so deep.

Every day is a struggle; every day is a feat.

But we must not forget the fight she put on,

The hurdles she crossed, the reward she won.

A year has passed; what a heartache it's been.

But we're one year closer ‘till we see her again.