One year ago today Jorge's family was saying a long, difficult good-bye. One year ago this morning we received our "Drop everything and DRIVE" phone call. At least five other families got the same call. Lord willing, all six of our families are celebrating the amazing milestone of one-year transplant survival today and tomorrow (for us, it is technically tomorrow, since Babygirl's surgery ran overnight and she actually received her transplant on the 4th).
But for Jorge's family this cannot be a day of celebration. My heart absolutely aches for them. A good friend of mine just passed the one-year date of the death of her baby boy. As amazingly strong as she is, it was a week of intense suffering layered onto a year of agony. Watching her grief mix with her unmistakable determination to honor the life of her little boy has given me a clear window into the heart of grief - the kind of grief every parent dreads. The kind we have been blessed to keep at bay now for the ninety-two weeks since Babygirl's diagnosis. The kind of grief we know can lie ahead without warning for any parent, and especially for those of us who raise children with fragile health.
Jorge's family has been heavily in my thoughts and prayers all week. I thank God for them, for the difficult choices they made when they realized his death was inevitable. Pray God I am strong enough (if, God forbid, I must ever make such choices) that I would do the same.
Bless them, Lord. Hold them tight in the palm of Your hand. Grant them peace and rest, as we know you already given to Jorge.
DeeDee
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