BATON ROUGE — In 2024, David England and his family received life-changing news that led him to skip a now 20-year tradition of taking his grandkids to Louie's Cafe for breakfast around Christmas time.

A year later, on Friday morning, their tradition resumed.

"This is our 20th year to have breakfast at Louie's with the grandkids. The first year when we did it, there may have been seven or eight; now there are 11 grandkids, and today there are three great grandkids with us," England said.

Sitting on David's right was his 16-year-old granddaughter, Scarlett Phillips, who was diagnosed with a type of bone cancer on Dec. 26, 2024.

"Last year I was diagnosed with osteosarcoma cancer in my right knee, and I had 18 rounds of chemo starting from January all the way to October," Phillips said.

Her family was by her side every day as she received treatment at Our Lady of the Lake Children's Hospital and St. Jude.

"You are there so much, and you just always have people there with you, spending time with you, getting you things, getting you food, but like it doesn't matter what it is, it just means a lot to have those people support me," Phillips said.

In October 2025, Phillips beat cancer.

"I rang the bell on October 14, and it was so amazing. There were so many people there when I walked out of the hospital waiting for me. It was just the most amazing thing," Phillips said.

At Friday's breakfast, England once again enjoyed a breakfast at Louie's with his grand and great-grand kids, grateful to be celebrating another year together, with their bonds stronger than ever.

"When you have a member of our family go through what Scarlett went through, it affects us all. She had an incredible support system. The best parents in the world to see a kid through this. I'm so proud of them," England said.