Gratefulness at the Fall Festival

This is going to be short and sweet...just something yesterday I experienced that I wanted to share. It was a surreal moment for me - a moment I was grateful to have experienced the journey we have had. I should say that these moments have happened before. I  am grateful for medical knowledge and medical technology, I am grateful for the bond my little lady and I have because of this, and I am grateful to have seen God's hand it, BUT this was different.

I was grateful to have the opportunity to offer hope and compassion toward a random person around me. My family and I went to a fall carnival with some friends and let's just say, the place was packed as I am sure most fall carnivals are. There were little princesses, Star Wars characters, pirates, dinosaurs, you name it, running around with giddy laughter and excitement. In the middle of all of this was a man with a stroller. What was special about this man with the stroller was that there was tubing running from inside the stroller alongside it to the backpack hanging on the back. I happened to glance his way and the familiarity of that came rushing back. I could not see the sweet boy inside as he was covered by the stroller shade but I immediately recognized the set up. I pointed it out to my husband who offered a prayer of thanks that that is not where we are today. I told him I was going to go say hi. I walked up to the man and introduced myself. I was holding Wimberley and told him that I admired him being out in the craziness with a tube feeding going on. I explained that Wimberley was and still is a tubie baby and that I know how hard it is to be mobile with feeding a child through their tube. This sweet man thanked me for coming up and talking to him. He said most of the time he gets odd looks or lots of questions and it was nice to be acknowledged by a stranger in a purely positive way.

I don't know what his story is or exactly what he has been through but I was grateful to connect with him in that moment, grateful to have the perspective that I do and grateful to reflect and remember on how far Wimberley has come.

I think my point in writing this is that we all have a story, with bumps and bruises and beautiful moments along the way. What if our purpose is to connect and to use our stories to share and empathize and rejoice with others? And what a shame to let those moments pass as I have done many times before. Don't let those moments pass you by. I totally believe that sometimes, we need to be filled, we need to be loved on. What you may be going through may suck you dry of any extra effort to be able to give others, period. And that is okay. But sometimes, our goal is to fulfill others, to offer hope and connection.

I know that when I was in the thick of Wimberley's feeding issues, I would have laughed upon reading this blog and thought "You have no idea what it is like". And that is the truth. None of us really know what the person in line next to us at the store or the person we pass on the street or a close friend is truly going through. Sometimes taking life moment by moment is the best we can do. And that is okay. We are human, we are going to feel a myriad of emotions, not all that are warranted. It is what we do with those emotions, the actions that come from them, that is important.

My little mouse girl