Sometimes, life changes in a single appointment.

For the Hallmark-Cook family of Winfield, Alabama, what began as a simple procedure to remove a ganglion cyst from 14-year-old Karston’s ankle quickly unraveled into a devastating diagnosis: synovial sarcoma—a rare, aggressive form of soft tissue cancer. Within a week, Karston and his mom, Ashley, had to leave home and relocate over three hours away to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis for treatment.

They didn’t have time to prepare. They just packed what they could and went.

The Hallmark-Cook family is a beautifully blended one, with six children between Ashley and Nick. While Ashley and Karston settled into their new life in Memphis, Nick stayed behind with their other children—until the distance became too much. Ashley made the difficult decision to withdraw their two youngest kids from public school and begin homeschooling them from Memphis, just so they could be together.

Ashley also had to close her small business to care for Karston full-time, cutting the family’s income by more than half. And while Karston began chemo—three different treatments over the course of nearly a year—Nick began making the 6-hour round trip each weekend to keep their family connected. This kind of caregiving is 24/7. It’s unpaid, it’s exhausting, and it’s full of love.

At Cocktails & Caregivers, this is why we exist.

We were honored to support the Hallmark-Cook family with a Keeping Caregivers Close grant to help ease the burden of gas, travel, and meals as they continue the long road through treatment. Because staying close shouldn’t be a luxury. It should be a given.

To all the caregivers out there holding it together for their families—we see you, and we’re here to help you hold on.

Supporting Our Caregivers

Do you want to help caregivers like Ashley, who remind us to always “Live Loud. Love Deep”?

Join our generous sponsor Round Room Gives along with our monthly giving donors, The Martini Club, to help Cocktails & Caregivers fund grants to assist with selfless caregivers like Ashley Hallmark. Learn more about how you can support the mission at cocktailsandcaregivers.org.