"Hey Matthew!"

I walked into his hospital room and stood at the foot of his bed just as I'd done so many times before. He nodded up at me in response and went to staring back out the window. Looking for something that didn't seem to exist.

I was used to this greeting, it was a fairly common occurance between Matthew and I.

"Matthew..." I prodded as I went around to the side of his bed and sat down in the chair where his mother usually sat. He finally looked up at me and immediately took notice of the camera I was holding.

"Whats that for?" he muttered pointing towards it.

"Well," I started as I flipped it on and sat it down on the bedside table, "I'm making a movie for a class I'm taking and I was wondering if you wanted to be one of the stars?"

His eyes lit up immediately. I'd expected this reaction... he talked about being an actor all the time.

"What's the movie about?" He asked looking a little suspicious.

"It's about life." I answered mentally noting him eye me even more nervously... I continued quickly, "But your part can be about whatever you want. Really I just want you to talk to me about anything at all that you want the world to know about you."

He nodded, "Sounds easy enough. When?"

"Right now if you want." I answered. "Or later... whenever you're ready."

He nodded again and I could tell he was thinking. "I don't think I'm ready just yet." He smiled at me. He rarely smiled.

I nodded my head and grabbed the camera off the table, flipping it off in the process. "You let me know when you're ready."

"Okay."

He was still smiling when I left his room.

It turned out to be pretty successful day. I spent most of my time talking to my patients and their families on camera, asking them their New Year's Resolutions and finding out that kids really do 'say the darndest things'. Most of the kids had simple resolutions like not fighting with their siblings, or listening to their moms and dads. Other's had more challenging ones like getting out of the hospital or beating their disease. Each resolution meant something to the child, each resolution made seemed honest and pure... the way only a child could make something sound.

I had a feeling Matthew was going to be way different.

He'd spent the last 3 months in the hospital after receiving his third bone marrow transplant. Very few people had lived to see three transplants... Matthew's story was one of the few.

In the 4 years I'd worked with him, I'd watched him grow from a young child with hopes and dreams to a teenager whose hopes and dreams were being shattered left and right, and yet he still showed a courage and strength beyond that of most adults I'd ever met.

I walked by his room one last time before leaving the hospital that afternoon. He waved to me, still smiling.

I had a feeling this film was going to do more for him than it was for me.