thetravelingwithers.com

When we first heard the words ocular melanoma in August of 2024, the air just… left the room. We didn’t know what it meant for our family yet, only that everything was about to change. The months since have been a blur of hospital visits, long drives, and quiet prayers whispered in waiting rooms. Some days have felt impossibly heavy. But every now and then, light finds its way through — usually carried by people who’ve walked this road before.

For us, most recently, that light came from the Christine Fox Frauenheim Foundation — a group of people who turned their own heartbreak into hope for families like ours.

Christine Fox Frauenheim was a nurse, a wife, a mom, and a fighter. She faced ocular melanoma for nine years with grit and grace, surrounded by the people who loved her most. She grew up in Point Pleasant, New Jersey — just a hop, skip, and a jump from our friends in Seaside, the same family who kept our kids while Ross went through plaque brachytherapy in June 2025. Funny how life has a way of connecting dots you didn’t even know existed.

After Christine passed in 2022, her husband Michael and their loved ones started the foundation that now carries her name. Their mission is simple: No one fights alone. And when they say that, they mean it.

When Michael and John, Michael’s best friend since kindergarten and organization treasurer, called to tell us the board had approved us for a grant, we were honestly speechless. The kindness in that conversation is something I’ll never forget. Michael isn’t just running a foundation — he’s a caregiver too. He’s lived this fight. He’s been the one pacing in waiting rooms, praying for good news, trying to keep a brave face. So, when he spoke, we felt seen in a way that only another caregiver can offer.

That moment — that call — reminded us that this community is built on empathy. It’s not pity. It’s people reaching back with open hands because they know how hard it is to walk this road alone.

The grant helped with travel, treatment, and all the invisible expenses that come with out-of-state care. But more than anything, it gave us something money can’t buy: a little bit of peace. A reminder that we’re not out here doing this by ourselves.

Christine’s spirit is still working through the foundation that bears her name. From Crawl for the Cure in Point Pleasant Beach to their annual Memorial Golf Outing (click here to learn more!), her family keeps finding new ways to turn loss into love — raising money for research and lending hope to families who need it most.

The ocular melanoma community is small but mighty. It’s made up of survivors, caregivers, and people like Michael who carry both scars and strength. We’ve seen what love looks like when it chooses to keep showing up. Because, really, what other choice is there?

We never met Christine, but through her foundation, we feel her. In every kind message, every act of generosity, every reminder that the fight is shared.

To Michael, John, and everyone at the Christine Fox Frauenheim Foundation — thank you. Thank you for standing beside us. Thank you for choosing compassion again and again. Christine’s legacy lives on because of the way you love others.

Because of you, we’re reminded that even on the hardest days…
no one fights alone.

Visit the Christine Fox Frauenheim Foundation to learn more about Christine and her ocular melanoma journey and to find ways on how you can help this organization with their mission of helping families just like ours.