The good ones

I don’t know how you do it. I don’t think I could. 

When someone says these words to me I almost immediately want to respond with you could. But then I remember what the nurse in the hospital said to my husband and I when we had our 3 month old son. She looked at us and said your boys are so blessed to have you, you are some of the good ones. She went on to tell us how there are many times as a nurse she is afraid to send a newborn home with their parents.

So this got me thinking…

I know quite a few of the good ones. I watch in awe so many of the warrior parents. I am lucky to call numerous of these good ones my friends. And as I think of these parents I feel like simply answering you could too diminishes their fight, determination, and their strength. I know parents who fly across the globe for therapy, parents who gave up career dreams, and parents who scrape by just to give their child every opportunity he or she deserves in life.

Caring for a child with special needs is challenging. It can be exhausting in all definitions of the word. It can be physically, emotionally, and financially exhausting. It’s not easy watching your child get labs drawn, go under anesthesia , or have surgery after surgery. It is heartbreaking knowing your child will never accomplish what their peers will. I can’t tell you how many simple things we have grieved because our son will never get to experience them. It is beyond scary worrying if the next illness will require hospitalization, or worse, a hospitalization that you won’t bring your child home from. These are the realities of caring for a child with a life threatening condition.

I don’t know how you do it, I don’t think I could. 

After talking to our nurse a few months ago, I realize not everyone could. It would be too much for some people to handle. I know that not every parent would or could wear these shoes as gracefully as some of the parents I know and love. I know that not every parent would fight as hard as some of the fierce mamas I have come to befriend. I know that not every parent would give up anything and everything for their child to take just one step or say one simple word. Not everyone could do it.

When our son was diagnosed almost 4 years ago I didn’t know how we would do it. But somewhere along the way we figured it out. We learned. We fought. We found strength.

And I’m proud to say, somewhere along the way we became some of the good ones.