In remembrance of Otto: 1 November 2002-11 August 2007

Otto was an adorable baby and a wonderful child. He had a fantastic sunny personality and charmed those around him with his beautiful smile and enthusiastic laugh. His enthusiasm for life shone throughout his life. I remember the day he very enthusiastically painted the outside wall and glass doors to the garden. And with how much enthusiasm he let rip with 'baa-baa black sheep' in church, when he wanted to chat and we told him it was time to sing!
He had a very good sense of humor too and was able to see the funny side of life. Otto was in stitches standing on the jetty while watching his dad and Mark struggling to steer the dinghy in the harbor. It was so obvious they were just going nowhere. And the day in hospital when a nurse came in the room to turn off an alarm and she remarked, 'You're beeping' and Otto chirped back, 'No, I'm Otto':)
Otto had an incredible sensitive streak in his personality and from a very early age wanted to help those around him who he sensed was distressed. Very suitably one of his favorite games was playing 'rescue'. He was the first child at his nursery who connected with a little wheelchair-bound girl. He sat holding her hand during playtime and also helped to push her out to where the mummies waited after school. Even though he enjoyed a good session of rough-and-tumble play with the other kids and stood up for himself when the occasion demanded it, Otto could never understand the senseless hurting of each other. He got very upset when anyone picked a fight with him.
Like most children Otto could be very cunning and determined and usually used it to his own advantage. I had to smile the day he figured out that the money in his little piggy could be used to buy stuff too. He was about 3. We were on our way to the corner shop and he kept on asking for a lollipop and me as usual said no, using the oldest excuse in the book that I had no money. Otto piped up that he had money in his piggy, we could use that! Once he got the idea he didn't hesitate to use it on a larger scale and next time he asked for another train and I said no once again because of the money-issue, he reminded me gently about his piggy-bank. How could I refuse?
Otto was fortunately too little to understand cancer and the treatment that goes with it. But he had so much patience that he endured everything that happened to him without a lot of fuss, even at the worst of times. His patience had always amazed us: the way he ate a lollipop, 1 lick at a time; he could wait before eating his treat from the shop, until we got home; especially his patience with his little sister Maya. Once he understood that she was too little to understand certain things, Otto would wait patiently until she had a nap before building a complicated train-track around the living room floor. Relying on that same patience, Otto sat on a bed in hospital for weeks on end without complaining, waiting for the day we'd tell him it was time to go home.
His patience went hand in hand with a heart filled with courage. The cancer being too strong for his body is in no way a reflection of the valiant battle he fought against it. And courageously Otto nodded his head when I told him the angels in heaven will look after him when mummy and daddy stay here on earth to take care of his sister and baby brother.
His biggest wish was to go to South Africa and swim in the sea again with his cousins. Otto spent a few glorious days with them on a holiday the previous year and he never forgot the experience. We promised to take him, but unfortunately didn't get the opportunity before his too short life was over. This has taught us that life is too short to be sitting around waiting for life to happen to us. Something that kids perhaps understand better.
Otto was our boy and we will not forget him.
We want to share our story to raise awareness for the debilitating disease (medullablastoma) that took Otto's life and to raise funds in Otto's memory, to help other children and their families going through the worst time imaginable.

Paul & Lisl Haldenwang