Wink from Heaven: Heaven sent

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Heaven sent

Heaven has been in my home this week. Caleb, Chloe, Hunter & Ben brought it. As their mothers, we know what a privilege it is to take care of our special children and having them in one room was simply... heaven. We held Heaven in our laps as we held each other's children, and we held Ben in our hearts since he needed to be home in New Hampshire.

(Left to right) My bit of Heaven...Caleb
Becky's bit of Heaven...Ben
Emily's bit of Heaven...Hunter
Tara's bit of Heaven...Chloe

Me with Hunter

Emily with Caleb

Tara with Caleb

Me with Chloe
Becky with Caleb

Becky with Hunter

Friends such as these are truly heaven sent.

These sweet ladies take heaven with them wherever they go. I am honored to have the gift of their friendship and love.

5 comments:

Becky said...: I LOVE this post. So beautifully done. I might have to borrow this for Ben's site. :) He'd love having all of and our kids on his blog. Thank you for hosting us April. We love you dearly. xoxo; December 3, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Unknown said...: I felt heaven today.
thank you.
xo; December 4, 2009 at 5:47 AM
Tara Bennett said...: It was such a joy to be in your home and feel of your love! I was so happy to meet Becky and Emily and am grateful to you for having us! I put the little ornament on Chloe's tree tonight, and she LOVES it! I think it reminds her of Caleb ;O)

Let's make sure we get together again. We've gotta wait for more pictures til I lose a few pounds in the new year, though. Oye!

Love ya!; December 4, 2009 at 8:04 AM
Lisa Christine said...: 3 little pieces of heaven, what a blessing.; December 4, 2009 at 9:10 AM
shirlgirl said...: How wonderful to have all of you special moms together with your special children. I know that Ben was there in spirit. Becky is so fortunate to have the support of all of you and vice versa.; December 14, 2009 at 5:31 PM

Prayer for Caleb

(written by Caleb's Grandma in her weekly column -2008-)

In my family we have a secret code to communicate our love for each other when we are out in public. We wink. When one of us is about to perform or speak, we look for a family member’s face in the crowd. Then we wink at each other. Closing one eye and winking is our secret code for saying, “I love you. You can do it. You’re wonderful.”

About three years ago, my grandson Caleb was born into our family. He must have known before birth that he would never be able to speak to us because he was born with one eyelid permanently closed. So, he is always “winking” at us, always communicating, “I love you. You can do it. You’re wonderful.”

Caleb has one eye lid permanently closed because he is missing one of his eyes . . . and he is also missing his brain. All the doctors said he would die soon after birth. They were wrong. Caleb is three years old. He is a medical miracle. The doctors say he can’t see, hear, speak, think or move. Those who know and love Caleb understand he has his own unique way of experiencing the world and communicating his love to those around him.

After Caleb was born the hospice people told us to buy a burial plot and continually warned us of his imminent death. We soon learned you can not live well in a state of fear and sadness. We decided we could spend Caleb’s entire life anxious and scared he might die at any moment, or we could celebrate each day we were blessed to have him with us. In the beginning, my daughter April celebrated Caleb’s birthday every week instead of every year with balloons and cupcakes because we simply did not know how long we would have him with us. We stopped the cupcakes after we gained ten pounds, but the celebrating goes on.

We all prayed for a miracle when we first learned about Caleb’s condition. We got one. Caleb’s birth, life and mission have had a deep and lasting impact on our lives. His spirit, eternal identity and most of all the loving, individual relationship he has with each of us is truly a miracle. Because of Caleb we know that each of us has a divine purpose and that the physical body is a sacred gift we should never take for granted. We better understand the worth of a soul and the resiliency of the human spirit.

Caleb’s five year old brother Matthew said, “Grandma. The doctors said Caleb was going to die, but he didn’t. That’s the first miracle I ever saw!”

Sometimes Caleb’s baby brother Mitchell pulls out his feeding tube while they hold hands riding together in their double stroller. Sometimes the only intervention that can get Caleb’s heart rate up is when his older brothers Josh and Matty crawl in his crib, hug him and sing, “I am a Child of God.” ...If you have a moment please offer a prayer for the little boy who has never been able to utter a single word and yet has taught everyone who knows and loves him – all the secrets of a rich and meaningful life.