Shopping for Hope

Recently I ran into a dear parent of another child with special needs, who
has been in the hospital for most of the last 5 months, and has not been
well enough to attend 8th grade all year.  Appropriately enough we met in a
chocolate store [as my wife says MDC means "must devour chocolate"]. She
shared her whimsical shopping list of medical miracles that she hoped to
"find" at Wal-Mart and elsewhere.  Below is her follow up letter detailing
the outcome of her "shopping trip." The real miracle is the undying devotion
of parents and the unwavering courage of this beautiful young man:

Per my holiday shopping list, I wasn't able to purchase my son a
"new autonomic nervous system" at Wal-mart.  Apparently they are on back
order. Further, "planning for future events with a reasonable degree of certainty
that said events will occur" is another lofty list item that remains unfilled.  And,
"end child's suffering"  is permanently out of stock, though I keep searching
the shelves.

My son is still on a very bumpy road to recovery at home with 24/7
nursing.  He hasn't seen one day of 8th grade yet.  We are hoping that he'll
be able to at least attend 1 class period soon...but the G-d awful retching
continues.

Watching your child's body continuously fail his will is a lesson in
parental helplessness...a hopeless state of continual despair, causing one's
insides to churn and the inability to exhale.  I so hope that my son's body
will find some sort of stability soon, not just because he'll feel so much
better, but also because Mommy needs to eat and breathe. For now, food and
oxygen remain a distant memory.

Comments

[Sandy Alperstein]

This brought tears to my eyes. A beautiful example of parental devotion and what we're all fighting for - our kids!