Meet Gage Two-year-old Gage uses his very own sign language. He’ll clasp his hands under his cheek and gaze at his mom and grandma with big, dreamy eyes. “That’s how he says, ‘I love you,’” his mom, Keli, explains. She says, “I love you, Gage!” And he responds right back, his hands clasped and a sweet sparkle in his eye. Gage is going through chemotherapy for atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor, or a cancerous brain tumor. He’s also experiencing mutism, or an inability to speak. His mom knew something was wrong when Gage was having trouble staying awake. She took him to a doctor, who found a tumor the size of a tennis ball. Gage had brain surgery at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Keli is hopeful that chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant are helping him beat his illness for good. And she knows he’s in good hands. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else,” she says. “The staff, doctors, and nurses here are amazing. They each treat him like their own child.” Keli encourages anyone who can to donate to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh Foundation because she knows new research is critical for helping children like Gage. “It’s for the kids,” she says. “They have their whole lives ahead of them.”