The Elston & Nichols Family
When Will Nichols was diagnosed with cancer at four, his family was thrown into the pediatric cancer journey. Through our programming, they were introduced to Smile-A-Mile and the Elston family. A tight bond was created between not only Kendall and Will (the youngest children in their families) but also their moms. “To have a friend like Marvalene…it’s wonderful.” The family lives in Birmingham where Will is in ninth grade.
Marvalene Elston and her son Kendall were introduced to the Smile-A-Mile family when Kendall was just two years old. As they were beginning treatment for Kendall’s cancer diagnosis, the family was introduced to Smile-A-Mile through our outreach on the Hematology and Oncology floor at Children’s of Alabama. The next summer, the entire family was at family camp where they reunited with their friends from the hospital, the Nichols family. Marvalene is a proud mom to three children and one granddaughter. The family lives in Florence where Marvalene works for the United States Social Security Administration.