A Step Toward Something Bigger

So in my last post I was talking about Something Bigger.

Well, I finally made the decision to take a small step toward that something bigger.

When Christian's accident happened, our local media really left a bad taste in our mouths. We weren't interested in talking to anyone and allowed the PR person for the fire department to do all our talking. But there was some misinformation out there about Christian being found at the bottom of the pool, which wasn't true, and a few other things that really aren't that important to the average reader but it's our story so it's important to us.

When Christian was transferred from Northwest Hospital to University there was a news crew that filmed the EMT's taking Christian out of the ambulance on a stretcher and rushing him into the hospital. They also got footage of me going in after him. It all felt kind of slimy and invasive that they'd be waiting there for us almost ambulance chasing.

We were asked to give our story several times and we turned it down just because of our not so positive experience. And things were emotionally very raw for us, so who wants to give an interview in that kind of state? So we declined.

Until recently.

As I've posted, Lola was enrolled in ISR swim instruction. Our awesome instructor also teaches the children of a local anchor. Our instructor shared our story with the anchor, the anchor read this blog, and wanted to do a story. She emailed me about possibly doing the story. I thought - Is this our something bigger?

I was nervous. Really nervous about it. In fact, I had to think about it. AND this was right smack dab in the middle of the Anonymous Poster stuff.

So I thought, Can we really handle this? Why open our lives up to this? We don't need this.

I asked God what to do. And then I got an email from a friend who follows Christian's Journey. It explained how much Christian's story had inspired her and helped her through her own journey with her son. I read the comments, I got facebook messages, about how much of an inspiration Christian's story has been to so many people.

Talk about something bigger.

I really believe in listening and listening very carefully when God starts talking, if you haven't already noticed.

I thought maybe this can make a difference. Maybe Christian's story is bigger than our little family. Maybe it's meant to help others. And we want to help others, we wanted to pay it forward. We got help, we are still getting help. Why not give it back?

So I decided to say yes.

A lot of people were worried for us. I think behind their worried looks they were wondering if I was crazy. They were worried we'd open our families up to...well, you know. I was worried, too. But then I thought about it and our family is tough. Our family has gone through hell. We can handle this if it means we might touch others or inspire others or alert others.

Over the last three weeks Kimberly Romo, the morning anchor at KGUN in Tucson has been working on our story. She did such a great job and really made sure I was okay with everything.

I didn't tell anyone when it would air. I casually mentioned that it might be happening at some point but I didn't tell anyone to set their DVR's. Mostly because I wanted to see it first. Silly, I know. But I certainly didn't want to publicize something I wasn't proud of or couldn't stand behind. I can stand behind this.

So here's a little step in our something bigger...



A few things...

The eating footage isn't the greatest because Christian was about to nap. In fact, he did nap right after everyone left.

At the end of the footage, Kimberly Romo mentions how I am inspired by others who've found joy after tragedy. This is really for all of you special needs mommies who have been my example. You've shown me how to find the rainbow after the rain. Especially, Heather, if you're reading, you and Sam were in my thoughts when I said it.

I was asked if I wanted to start a support group. I said yes, but not just for near drown children. I'd like to start one for brain injured and special needs children in our local area. Just to clarify.