A generational fight

In 2020, Julius Huggins’ mother noticed that he was squinting at the TV. Naturally, she called her mom, Melody Grady, who advised her to take Julius to the eye doctor.

After a midday eye appointment, Melody Grady’s son-in-law called her in tears. By midnight that night, Julius was in emergency surgery, fighting a brain tumor.

“I could tell he was crying,” Grady recalled. “I said ‘what is going on?’ You took my grandson to get glasses, now you’re coming back crying. And at 12:26 a.m. I was flying down to Oklahoma City.”

Now, Julius is ten, still fighting his brain tumor, and still dealing with all the additional medical issues, including diabetes, that his brian tumor has brought on.

“I enjoy every day,” he said. “Even when I have to do blood work. I’m always brave for my mom and dad.”

Julius suffers from a craniopharyngioma, a brain tumor which has now fully enveloped his frontal lobe. It is inoperable, according to his grandmother.

Due to the tumor, Julius has gained weight and has limited movement. Unfortunately, his disabilities, including diabetes, have also led to bullying at school, said Julius.

“Some people care about me,whenever I get hurt or bullied, they stick up for me,” said Julius.

Melody and Julius are especially close, she said. Julius often calls his grandmother in the middle of the night, when he can’t sleep.

“The other night he called me, 3:28 a.m. and asked me why other kids are being mean to him. I just said that jealousy is a cold blooded thing, they don’t understand why he doesn’t get to play with them.”

“Every day I talk to her about kids who call me names,” said Julius.

The two are close, in large part, because they both have had to deal with the same or similar treatments.

“This is my third cancer in nine years,” said Grady. She recently underwent uterine surgery after discovering breast cancer and cancer in her lymph nodes.

Grady is still putting herself second, though.

“I worry about him. And, you know, I put myself secondary. Most people say ‘well how do you do that?’ It’s easy. Take a look at what I’ve got and what I’ve lost, and you’ll understand how it’s easy to put myself second.”

Their relationship is what keeps them going.

“But this radiation I’m about to go through, I think I’m going to make it through more just because of him. Just to see the strength and not care about himself, as opposed to other people, like strangers.”

Julius doesn’t have a message, but a question. “How is your day?”