Beauty out of the ashes – in Memory of Kate Rhoades

It doesn’t get easier. This June 5th, our dear friends, Lindsay and Mike Rhoades, wished their eight year old, sweet little girl, a happy, heavenly birthday. Kate Rhoades lived four years, but should have been here ninety more. But a sudden and rapid relapse to leukemia stole her from her family and friends when she was just four and a half years old.

There isn’t a day that goes by in the Elkhouri home where Kate Rhoades isn’t thought about or her name isn’t said. Our youngest is just a few months older than Kate. With every celebration with our little one, there is always a stinging reminder that Lindsay and Mike pass these milestones visiting Kate’s grave at Chestnut Grove Cemetery. Almost four years later, it still doesn’t seem real. It never will.

Out of the ashes is always beauty, however. Yes, the cinders still burn and always will until Lindsay and Mike are reunited with their precious Kate in heaven. But beauty is growing every day in Kate’s memory through people performing Random Acts of Kateness, to toys — lots and lots and lots of toys – being delivered to children battling cancer and through research. Last year, Kate’s Cause donated $25,000 to a young investor grant with a partnership with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. The money is helping Dr. Christian Hurtz, PhD, research and study the Cellular Pathways to Enhance Treatment in Ph-like acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the very cancer that Kate had.

We are again partnering with Kate’s Cause this June and donating $1 from every haircut at our Dulles and Fairfax locations to this amazing, local non-profit. We ask our SK Enthusiasts to perform Random Acts of Kateness — buy someone a coffee, help someone with their groceries, mow a neighbor’s lawn — then share about it with the hashtag #RandomActsOfKateness. We love seeing beauty growing from Kate. Her four short years here will leave an impact for hundreds of years to come.