[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he sounds of children gleefully taking in the holiday spirit swirled around Gregory Gonzalez Thursday at the Wallace Middle School gym.

As Gonzalez stood on the hardwood floor, his gaze centered squarely on a little girl with small, white bow perched in her hair.

That child, his niece, Lily Laredo, was experiencing one of the first Christmases that didn’t involve a myriad of treatments in the hospital.

Kyle resident Lily Laredo waves as she and her family exit Wallace Mid...