When Silas turned 2 years old, he had told his family that his name is now “BIG”, he was no longer a baby and he was big enough to adventure the world as a growing child. Everyone from the grocery clerk to the preschool teacher knew his new name.

Silas Nithaniel Luciano (known as “Big”) was like any 6 year old active boy with no problems in sight. On September 2, 2000, Big went on a trip to Florida with his mom and dad and three brothers. We spent time at Disney World as well as on a 7 day Disney cruise. He had a wonderful time and really enjoyed himself, little did we know that this would be the last trip we would share as a family with Big.

When we returned from our trip, Big started the first grade. Big had only been in school for two days when that evening he said he didn’t feel well. That night he awoke late complaining of too much pain. We immediately took him to the hospital and they ran tests for two days....

On September 29, 2000, at the young age of 6, Big was diagnosed with small round blue cell cancer/pancreatic blastoma at the Seattle Children’s Hospital. This type of cancer has no known proven treatment available. We were given only a few options, all of them being very experimental and non that have been proven in anyway to help. Big had become too weak and ill to undergo chemotherapy and the pain was so bad, that morphine and codeine was the only options that were left for us.

We decided to extend his life using alternative medicine and see if we could somehow lessen the pain without the heavy drugs. We took Big to an alternative medicine hospital and spent his remaining months there, by his side. The pain did disappear, and the small 6 year old was free of any strong medication. We had Halloween, Christmas and New Years with Big, and every holiday was so special to us. Big was not in school so the days went slow for him, but his favorite moment of the day was when a visitor, or a package or anything special would arrive for him. Every time Big received something or someone, he always wanted to share and often asked if everyone was as scared as he is.... and the answer was yes.

Big left us on February 13, 2001, leaving the family with tremendous loss and pain. Everyday that he lived, we had hope and he had gifts of love and sharing. In my heart, I know that if Big has survived and was still with us, he would give other children with cancer all the gifts he received and he would go visit them and share with them. I choose to carry out what Big did not have enough time to do. Every gift, every dollar, every hug and every tear, I give for Big and me. Big left me with the mission to help and I can’t let anyone forget this brave little boy and also there are so many brave little boys and girls that everyone needs to reach out to and offer their love and support. These children need us and I feel as an adult and parent, if there’s one thing I can do and it’s as simple as a smile on a child’s face, then I will go through my life knowing that I did just that.

We know what loss is and this foundation is set up for Big and for all the children that he asked about and why they didn’t have the gift they ever imagined getting.... all the games that Big wanted to play and all hope that he had that the other children have a smile on their face. When we put a “Big” smile on a child’s face, that’s a beautiful moment that the family and the child can cherish.

Our message to every parent is not to give up or loose hope!

Our hope is that this web site will be a source of information, as well as a source of inspiration to all of you who are touched by “Big Smiles on Small Faces”!