The Blessings of our children

As I'm writing this, I am waiting for word about one of our local heart children who is undergoing surgery at the moment. The heart kids have been on my mind a lot lately, as yet another child lost her battle a few weeks ago. This little girl, named Betsy, had the same defect as Heidi, and due to complications had to undergo two heart transplants in five years.

We have been so extraordinarily blessed that Heidi has been so healthy and strong. People who meet her do not know that inside that body works a very unusual heart. As her mother of course there isn't a day where I don't think about how much time she has left with us, and what the road ahead holds for all of us. I think about losing her and how that would surely break our hearts into a million pieces. And then, strangely, I am reminded that this child of ours wasn't meant to be here. Only 20 years ago, children with her condition had no hope for survival at all. Yet here we are, with one of the most resilient and healthy little people parents could hope for. Sometimes I cannot make sense of it. And then I realize that her health, her life, and every day we have with her is a gift to us. Heidi is a child who touches people's hearts. Other children are drawn to her, most adults who get to know her find her a delight. In her world, things are so fundamentally right, and happiness prevails. So I'm reminded that all our children are gifts to us, to teach us about love and growth. I am just so fortunate to have this brought to my consciousness in every day with this child who almost wasn't.