Strong Little Ones

I've been following Jaden's story for a while now(click on his darling little face over on the right to take you to his story) and I can't read anything about him without tearing up.

Little ones who are sick: they break my heart. To see how much joy they still have, despite facing such enormous obstacles. Such bravery in ones so small.

My own Bear was very sick this past spring.

Could have died sick.

I literally start to throw up every time I think about it.

I didn't share his story with anyone because I couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle the thought of someone asking me how he was because I knew that I would burst into tears.

So, I didn't say anything.

We just held him tight for months. After he would fall asleep, I would crawl into his little toddler bed, put my arms around him, stroke his hair, gaze at his little angel face, and bawl my eyes out.

When I found out that the other two did not have the same thing, I weeped tears of relief for them and more tears of pain for Bear.

I know that I pushed some friends away during this time, refusing to do some super-fun things and saying that I need to be home with my kids. I couldn't leave Bear. I just couldn't. Not knowing that he nearly died.

So, we kept our pain to ourselves. I didn't want it to be real. I wanted it all to just go away.

And, our prayers were answered and Bear is going to be okay.

But, I can't forget that pain, that fear, that absolute belief that your heart is going to break. I still can't talk about it too much; my hands are shaking as I type this post. Wimp that I am, I can't even handle talking about it and here are these strong little ones, struggling to overcome so much. We could all learn so much from their strength.

When I read Jaden's story, I feel for them. We've been there. And, we pray for them. Please take a moment and do the same.