Cole Zenie wasn't quite 3 when he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

"I remember being in the (treatment) room," says the Parkland High School senior."I remember lying on the bed. I was scared."He also remembers having to undergo spinal taps and spending long periods of time in the hospital.The son of Karl and Michelle Zenie of Allentown, Cole, 17, believes his having cancer was a lot scarier for his parents."They knew what was happening. I didn't really know what I was going through."Cole has been in remission since he was 6. He is now a 12-year survivor."It's harder for parents when it comes to childhood cancer. For a kid, it's easier to have hope, for a parent, it's easier to lose hope."Cole says he feels "fine, normal. I have stuff that isn't 100 percent normal. I have anxiety issues. Maybe it's normal teenage things. Not about cancer. Things like when school is about to start. Just a normal teenager."He laughs. "At least as normal as a teenager can be."As far as that goes, Cole is a pretty typical teenager. He plays recreational soccer, enjoys movies, playing on his Xbox, hanging out with his friends.Next year he'll probably attend Lehigh Carbon Community College. After that, more schooling. He says he's considering becoming a psychiatrist.So far, Cole has had no long-term side effects from the chemotherapy."I have yearly checkups. There's nothing that affects me every day," he says. "I have no restrictions."He considers himself lucky."I got one of the more treatable cancers. My body fought it off pretty well."For all that he's been through, and all that his body has had to endure, he thinks he's doing OK."Maybe the chemo did something to my brain, I don't know. I am who I am, and I'm all right with that. That's all that matters."And that's "all right" for Pauline Grady of Walnutport.Grady's son, Sam, was 2 when he was diagnosed with ALL, the same type of cancer Cole had."When I met Cole, Sam was in the middle of treatment and I had only met one other person that had survived leukemia. Cole looked like your typical, healthy 16-year-old boy. His mother, Michelle, who is now the executive director for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley, stated that Cole was a leukemia survivor and I immediately cried," said Grady."I cried because I couldn't wait for Sam to be 16 and healthy and a survivor. Cole was what I prayed for and hoped for everyday.Sam is now 6. He recently celebrated his one-year anniversary since finishing chemotherapy."A wise woman has always reminded me to 'chose hope,'" says Grady, "that it's really the only way to move forward with life, especially when you are tossed into such an awful situation."