Last modified: Wednesday, March 5, 2008 1:31 AM EST Foxboro's Caroline Miller, right, says goodbye to her mother, Cathy, at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Jimmy Fund Clinic on Monday. (Submitted) Happy camper BY MICHAEL GELBWASSER SUN CHRONICLE STAFF FOXBORO As the Boston Red Sox go through spring training, a Foxboro girl taught them something Tuesday. A lesson in courage. Ahern Middle School seventh-grader Caroline Miller was among a group of 32 teenage cancer patients to visit the Sox in Fort Myers, Fla., their spring training home. The teenagers watched Tuesday's exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Pirates from the luxury box of Sox owner John Henry as his guests. A meet-and-greet with the players was planned, too. The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Jimmy Fund Clinic, where the teenagers are patients, funded the trip, which was first begun in 2004, spokeswoman Lisa McEvoy said. The group left Boston for Florida on Monday and will return home today. Caroline, diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia on Oct. 20, almost missed the trip for health reasons. She left the hospital only last week, after spending 13 days there, her mother, Cathy Miller, said Tuesday. "When she got out of the hospital, they told us, 'You've got a week to get better,' " Miller said. "I was pretty happy to see her go (to Fort Myers), because her counts had to be up." Caroline will see an old friend on the trip. Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis visited her at Boston's Children's Hospital during the Christmas season and autographed a photo. On Monday, a hoard of reporters and photographers captured the families gathered at the Jimmy Fund Clinic for the Fort Myers send-off. "It just made me cry," Miller said. Caroline called home Monday afternoon. "She said, 'The hotel is beautiful,'" Cathy said. Although the Sox trip was fun, Caroline, who is in remission, faces a rough road after heading home: Two weeks of "very intensive radiation," on the heels of being hospitalized for nearly two weeks, Miller said. "This is a good thing for me and her," Miller said of the spring training excursion. "We have to get our rest." MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.