Rocky Mountain News
By Gary Massaro
LAKEWOOD -- Joseph Young had a head for money. Now, that money is going to someone else. Joseph didn't live long enough to spend it. He died of cancer in 1984. "I know the date. I just have a mental block about it," said his mom, April Young. Joseph was April's only child. She gave him a bank when he was 4-years-old. "It's plastic, a bust of the Incredible Hulk," she said. "He loved the Incredible Hulk. When I gave it to him, I told him he couldn't spend it until it was full."
When he was 5, Joseph complained his knee hurt. Doctors first said it was "little boy pains," April said. "A month, six weeks later, while I was bathing him, I brushed his knee and he yelled in pain." April took Joseph back to the doctor, who diagnosed Joseph with bone cancer. Doctors amputated his leg. He was treated with chemotherapy and radiation. Through it all, Joseph laughed a lot. He played soccer on crutches.
When he was 8 and doctors told Joseph the cancer would kill him, April asked him what he wanted to do with his things -- give them away himself, or let her handle it. "I explained what a will was," she said. "And he wrote a will. But he wanted to give his things away before he died. So we had his cousins and friends over to the house, and he gave everything away." He gave his mom the bank "with the stipulation I couldn't spend it until it was full," April said. She put the bank away, occasionally chucking pocket change into it. She filled it, and stashed it in a storeroom. "It was so heavy, I couldn't lift it," she said. "I had to use a handcart."
Then, she heard about Joseph's Journey, a non-profit started last year
by Vickie and Kim Steuart, of Lakewood. It's named in honor of their son,
Joseph, who died of cancer, too. They take kids with terminal illnesses
on guided fishing trips. "It went click, click," April said.
"First of all, the name Joseph. And secondly, they started Joseph's
Journey with their son's bank." So April gave money from one Joseph
to another. Tax-deductible donations: Joseph's Journey, P.O. Box 150453,
Lakewood, CO 80215-0453.
