Four Diamonds Story (Tale of Sir Millard)
The assignment for Shirley Deichert's eighth-grade class at Elizabethtown Middle School was for the students to write their autobiographies.The teacher saw it as a way to challenge the members of her accelerated English class.
But one of her brightest students, Chris Millard (Mill-are-d), didn't want to write about his own life. The boy, who had been struggling with cancer, hesitated to rehash the experience.
"I remember him just kind of quietly saying to me, 'I can't get started on this, I don't want to remember anything after I got sick,' " Deichert recalled. Deichert told him, "Chris, you're such a good writer, why don't you write about anything."So, instead of an autobiography, in the spring of 1972, Chris penned a tale of a knight, Sir Millard.
In the tale, Sir Millard sought to conquer Raptenahad (Rap-ten-uh-hod), a magic-wielding evil queen who served as a metaphor for his cancer, rhabodomyosarcoma (rab-doe-my-oh-sar-coma). In order to defeat her, the evil queen demanded he complete four difficult tasks to obtain the Diamonus Quadrus, or Four Diamonds, of Courage, Wisdom, Honesty, and Strength. If Sir Millard accomplished these tasks, he would be freed, and the evil queen’s reign would end forever. After continued success, Raptenahad (Rap-ten-uh-hod), was enraged, and, fearing for her life, she determined to destroy him on his final challenge. She requested the head of a notorious outlaw, thinking it impossible for Sir Millard to accomplish. To her dismay, he conquered this challenge too. On that day, the curses of the sorceress lifted, and Sir Millard gained right to the castle. He returned there to find it full of animals singing, birds chirping, and hanging banners encompassing the four diamonds he fought so hard to earn.
Although Christopher lost his battle to cancer shortly thereafter, his parents made sure that his four diamonds, which he thought were essential to defeating cancer, lived on in his memory. In 1972 Christopher’s parents Charles and Irma created the Four Diamonds Fund to assist children and families in their fight against pediatric cancer. Within five years, Penn State Hilton S. Medical Center and Penn State joined forces with the Four Diamonds Fund to take part in the fight as well.
Here is Chris' Story:
The Story of the Four Diamonds