A Homer Glen 9-year-old who has battled cancer for more than three years spent a week as the village’s honorary mayor.
As part of her duties, Addy Grande, a student at Reed Elementary School, turned on the holiday lights Dec. 7 at the Homer for the Holidays festival and presided over a portion of last Wednesday’s Village Board meeting.
Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitkze-Troike also brought Addy to Haunted Trails, where they played arcade games and won prizes. They later went out for dinner.
The two mayors also went out for hot cocoa before the Village Board meeting.
Once they arrived at Village Hall, Addy attended to village business by signing important documents, sitting at the head of the dais where she had her own nameplate, leading the board in the Pledge Of Allegiance and calling the meeting to order.
Homer Glen’s first mayor, Russ Petrizzo, said Addy’s photo should join the official portraits of village mayors at Village Hall.
In a soft voice through a shy smile, Addy, who is known as Warrior Addy, said “Everything was the best.”
Homer Glen Mayor Christina Neitzke-Troike, left and Homer Glen’s first mayor, Russ Petrizzo, with Honorary Mayor Addy Grande, who presided over the Dec. 11 Village Board meeting. (Michelle Mullins/for the Daily Southtown)
Addy was diagnosed with metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma in July 2021. That October, she had surgery and she was in remission for a year, but the cancer returned, said her mom, Jackie Grande. By January 2023, the cancer spread to her diaphragm. Shortly thereafter, her mom said, her lungs were riddled with nodules.
Recently, doctors told Grande they were “running out of options” and there was fewer medications available that Addy could take.
“Addy asked ‘What is the end of the line?’” Grande said. “What does it mean there’s no more medicine left? I looked at her and I said ‘I don’t know.’ … This is what childhood cancer looks like. No kid should ever have to think about this.”
Warrior Addy, her 6-year-old sister, Aurora, and her mom will head to Disney World in a few weeks with the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Grande said she hopes to make as many memories as possible with her girls.
“However long we have, I am making a point to do what I can with her, or take her mind off it,” Grande said. “I know she sees me cry. I don’t want that to be the last thing she remembers.”
“If I fall down the stairs and she laughs, I’ll do it,” Grande said. “Whatever I can do to put a smile on her face, I’ll do.”
Grande said that experiences are important, which is why she was grateful the village of Homer Glen reached out to create the honorary mayor experience.
Grande said her daughter had a wonderful time at the holiday festival, where she met Santa and Anna and Olaf from Disney’s “Frozen.”
“She flipped the switch. It turned on every single light. It looked so pretty,” Grande said. “Anytime I can see a smile on her face puts a smile on my face.”
Brittany Parra, the village’s community outreach coordinator, filmed their various activities to create a documentary for the family. She plans to share it at a Village Board meeting in January.
“What can we do to show them what Homer Glen is all about,” Parra said. “To me, Homer Glen is all about family. We are behind you. People care about you. We don’t want her to be another number. We want her to feel the love.”
Grande said she looks forward to the documentary so she can remember fun events her daughter experienced.
Parra said since she started sharing Warrior Addy’s story, village businesses and residents have reached out to donate food, gift cards and toys. In one instance, Davidson’s Bar & Grill provided a $1,000 gift card for the family and offered to pay for meals next year as well, Parra said.
“Homer Glen is a really special place,” Parra said. “The amount of support in this community has blown my mind.”
Neitzke-Troike agreed.
“One of the things I am proud of is our community spirit,” she said.
Neitzke-Troike heard about Warrior Addy through Project Fire Buddies, a group of firefighters who help bring joy to children struggling with critical illnesses. Immediately, she wanted to help, she said.
“I really wanted to make this Christmas special for her,” she said.
No village funds were spent on the mayoral experience, Neitzke-Troike said.
Grande said that despite the cancer, Addy is “one of the happiest kids” she’s ever met.
“She is so smart,” Grande said. “She loves school. She loves arts and crafts. She is so creative. She loves to write, to color.”
Addy likes to “mother” her little sister, make new friends and go on play dates, her mom said.
Parra said she was immediately struck by Addy’s selfless nature and the family’s strong bond. She said she was touched Addy decided to make both her and her husband a bracelet on a day that she was filming the documentary.
“You can tell she doesn’t complain much,” Parra said. “She is strong. It is not fair for a 9-year-old to know this reality.”
Grande has been documenting Addy’s journey on the Warrior Addy Facebook page where she also links to her zeffy.com fundraiser page.
The fundraiser is to help the family with daily expenses and try to provide Addy with different experiences so she has as much fun as possible while she is still able.
“It’s been a struggle ever since this happened,” Grande said. “It’s been three, going on four years, fighting on and off. It sometimes feels hopeless. I try to be as happy and smiley as I can on the outside. Whatever help in any way we can possibly get that can make her the happiest she can be is what I want.”
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
