Day 12 - October: Down Syndrome Awareness Month

Day 12 - October: Down Syndrome Awareness Month

It's funny how life works.  It's a sequence of events, a line-up of moments that will make you ecstatic or leave you devastated with all the emotions in between.  It's that moment of bartering that you have with your Faith, that - I will give you this if you will give me that.  It's the listing of your priorities that will help to define you in a way you never thought.

I offer this one last little story about Bradley's last surgery.  As we stood over him in the Pre-Op room, we were joking about the ironic twist that this room was so much nicer and roomier than the room he was supposed to spend the night in.  Not only did this room have a bathroom, there was this awesomely comfortable chair along with a really large flatscreen TV.  As I helped Bradley play with this toy the nurse gave him, my hand brushed my ear and I felt something sharp.  Further inspection revealed four sharp prongs...I took my earring out and I confirmed what I had feared.  I had lost my diamond out of my earring.  Now I am an extremely sentimental person, as much as I loved my diamond earrings, I loved them the most because they were a present from Eric after the birth of our second child.  They represented a moment when he was out in the store somewhere and had a feeling that he wanted to buy me a special gift simply because he loved me and he loved me for giving him two amazing and beautiful little girls.  So the moment I realized it was gone, I had this sad moment of losing that...not so much the diamond.  But there, sitting in front of me was our son, getting ready to be sedated - something he doesn't do great with - and then be worked on.  I found I couldn't muster a tear, or anger, only a sort of sad "Oh well."  And I know that sounds weird, but at the moment that I learned of this loss, it was the best I could give it.  I was focused on Bradley, and I couldn't help but think that if I had to lose something today, then I would willingly lose the diamond, all the while knowing we can't replace it right now.  And it was that simple...the planets aligned and though I felt regret for the loss, I also didn't think about it again for quite a few hours. 

Well, we made it home and I thought to put the remaining earring in the jewelry box.  I got up from where Bradley and I were playing with that same toy, on the floor by the couch.  As I stood up, a glint caught my eye and I reached down and there on the floor lay my diamond.  Somehow a morning of showering and rushing around, dropped it safely on the carpet in our living room and it sat and waited until the moment that Bradley chose that spot to play on.  I don't know how it happened or why, but for some reason, the diamond came back to me and at some point I'll get the earrings fixed.  I gave it up for lost with only a vague notion that it was possible that I could have lost it at home... but in the car, in the shower, down a drain or three...here possibly, found not probably.  The material was lost and not mourned because me son was everything.  I find it so amazing that for some reason, the universe, faith, something chose to give it back to me.   I brought home a healing son and was grateful - finding something that was lost was a really nice perk to end the day.