Best of Lifestyles 2013

This was a year worth remembering. A woman used fashion to help raise money for charity. An adventurer raced 5,000 miles across the Amazon to fight cancer. And kids with cancer used a local art studio as a place to escape. In this special end-of-year issue, take a look back with the Observer at what made 2013 so memorable.

Battling the Amazon

Cancer nearly killed Mickey Grosman. The lifelong adventurer had experienced a moment when he could do nothing but struggle against his disease, so he decided to go on an adventure to raise cancer-fighting funds and inspire others to keep fighting. He documented his journey for all 5,000 miles, and so did the Observer, with a three-part series chronicling his journey from the Peruvian mountains through to Guyana. Along the way his team would encounter river pirates, snakes, disease and a detour that would take them hundreds of miles off their original course, but they hacked their way through the jungle to the Atlantic Ocean. Start back at the beginning by rereading part one online at bit.ly/18X8opl

Escape artists

Trevor calls it a ‘bump’ in his leg — a bump that’s brought about 54 weeks of chemo and counting, and hundreds of nights in the hospital since a doctor found it in March of last year. Orlando’s BASE Camp – an acronym for Believe, Achieve, Support, and Educate – returned to Sandy Bonus Fine Arts for its ninth annual art camp Aug. 5, offering a week of escape and refuge from hospital stays for children battling cancer. From the first day of shaky brushstrokes on Monday to the cheers as the curtain falls on Friday, Sandy Bonus said it’s a week of art, life lessons, and a world where cancer goes away. The Observer arrived at the camp’s last day as kids played parts on stage, many for the first time, in a world where, just for a moment, they can just be kids again. Read the full story online at bit.ly/1cB2GXU

Fashion for the blind

A woman’s dedication to her blind son led her to raise money for the group that helped him communicate. Susan Johnson raised her son as he gradually lost his vision after becoming completely deaf. Lighthouse Central Florida helped him see with his failing eye and to talk and listen with sign language. But for those who are deaf and completely blind, that task becomes much more difficult. Fabulous Fashion with a Focus helped bring in money to fund a program at Lighthouse Central Florida to help young children learn to communicate in new ways so that they can have normal lives. Read more about the organization’s mission at bit.ly/1gGDIxr

The place that made Noah smile

Born in September of 2005, Noah Loewen had a genetic disorder that limited his growth, causing him to develop but at a much smaller size. The disorder was exceptionally rare; Noah was only the fourth recorded case in the world. The family came down from Canada to visit a special resort made by Give Kids the World to help kids forget their illness. They ate at the Ice Cream Palace every night, went to Disney World and, most importantly, turned their attention away from the heartache of Noah’s disorder.

After Noah passed away, the family kept coming back anyway, serving ice cream to other kids dealing with difficult illnesses. One day they packed their bags and moved to Orlando to volunteer full-time, rekindling memories of the place that made Noah smile.

Read the full story about how the Loewens help Give Kids the World online at bit.ly/1cbKCZN