Lessons from a Child

Nine years ago, I was blessed for the third time. The first two are another story that I'll have to tell later on.  My third time is an exceptional one.  God had given me a beautiful baby boy with a head of dark black hair, 10 fingers, toes and all 10lbs.  He was the most precious thing I had ever seen, besides my daughter, who was 22 months at the time.  But within hours he began to have some complications. I was told later he had suffered a STROKE before he took his very first breath into this world no less... it happened sometime in-utero.  Wow, my mind became such a whirlwind.  At the time, I did not know how or what to feel, say, or do.  I became numb.  All kinds of medical terms, conditions, etc. were being thrown at me. Some I had heard of before, but not in the same context as I thought I previously understood.   I would sit for days trying to come up with logical answers as to the when, how I did not know this was happening, especially since our bodies were so very close together; the why's; the what's; the if's and even trying to forsee the future, etc. etc.   But as time has gone by, I realized that I needed to stop looking for these answers.  I'll never find them and it would never change the fact that he suffered the STROKE.   I have to start dealing with the here and now and the state that the STROKE has left him in.  It was somewhat frustrating and scary because I had found little on this topic back then.  I was almost flying blind, if you will, moving through the motions with following doctors orders and hoping that whatever decisions my husband and I made were the right ones.  As it turns out, the effects of his STROKE are mild, compared to many other Survivors that we have since met.  Being mom, I will always have the worries and the doubts but he will survive and accomplish victory because he is very independent, strong and determined.

Through his journey of nine years thus far, my little boy has been my teacher.  He has shown and taught me some wonderful lessons about living and about myself as a person and a parent.  Most recently I have reflected on the five lessons below.  They have given me a whole new and clearer perspective of myself. 

1) Each and everyone one of us has one or more forms of a disability. It may be physical, mental, very well seen by others or only known to ourselves. An impairment of some kind which can make a task more difficult.    2) We should never allow our disability to stand in our way of achieving what we want.  For not trying is failure and we cannot grow, learn or succeed if we don't try.  3) Believe and have faith in yourself.  For it is only YOU that builds your life into something wonderful. Others are merely your tour guides. 4) We should never let our self esteem be scorned by other people's actions and words.  For we are all unique and it's that uniqueness that keeps this world from being boring and repetitive.  5) The disability does not and should not make us stop being a friend, confidant, lover, spouse or parent. We were all born with LOVE and it is LOVE that we all share! 

It is so amazing how young children can teach adults such deep lessons.  Lessons that they can not yet  fully comprehend themselves. I  look forward to learning more lessons from my children through the rest of my days with them.