Since I was gone for almost 3 weeks, I fell behind on blogging. Tonight I found several entries on other blogs to wish Jack a Happy Birthday. It was every emotional for me to read these. As Jack overcame obstacle after obstacle we always maintained that he must have some really important purpose on earth. As I read these blogs I recalled an experience we had at the Hopkins NICU. One day when Jack was having a really bad day the Catholic priest that baptized Jack, Father Gilberto, came by to visit us. He looked at Jack then at my Uncle Len (who was visiting) and I. He said, "You may ask how our God could allow such suffering of the innocent. God chose you to be Jack's mother. You're strong enough. Maybe God has allowed this experience so that you can experience a miracle in your lifetime." It still gives me chills when I think of it. I wouldn't say that I ever lost my faith, but I was fairly apathetic and didn't think about it before now. After this experience and those words from Father Gilberto, I definitely think about faith more. Every day Jack was in the hospital I would go back to our room in The Children's House and say, "Thank you for another day with Jack." That phrase then became, "Thank you for a week with Jack" and so on. I still say this every night and thank God for him. This amazing little person has taught me so much in 1 year and after reading the blog entries on his birthday I realized that he gave hope to so many people. The CDH community is filled with amazing people. The support, love and knowledge is incredible. It fills me with such emotion to think that Jack has played some role in giving other families hope. A good friend of mine in Canada had a baby boy in mid-August. He came 11 weeks early. When I spoke with her yesterday we talked about the NICU experience. She said that she immediately thought of us when she entered the NICU and that she was familiar with some of it from following our experiences. I'm happy to say that her beautiful baby boy (Aidan) is holding his own and is a fiesty little guy. He is breathing on his own and growing stronger every day.
Thanks to everyone who remembered Jack's 1st birthday and for your kind words. It means so much to James, Jack and I.
Sofie's blog
Wyatt's blog
Owain's blog
Andrew's blog
1 comment:
Jack also was a special part of my journey with grief. Watching him and keeping up with his journey - I learned a whole lot and recalled so much from Cecilia's experience.
These babes and their families are truly amazing - including you all and Sir Jack.
Love, live and enjoy - and relish that little amazing boy!
Post a Comment