Bronson Staker was a little boy much like Christian was.
He was blond. He was a cutie. And he drowned. Fully coded, no pulse for forty minutes.
This was about ten months ago.
There fates were a little different, though. They were both brought back from death and they both lived, however they face very different futures.
Bronson came out of it pretty much unscathed. He had no brain damage initially, or so far, for that matter. He woke up, started making eye contact, eating, walking, and walked himself right out of that hospital.
At the time it kind of shook up my little community of special needs moms, especially those of whom had children who suffered some kind of accident that changed their little ones forever. It certainly shook me.
I was following Sara Staker's (Bronson's mother) blog from the time of the accident. I saw pictures of her little boy in critical condition, with tubes down his throat, a cooling blanket on his body, looking just like my Christian. And then almost over night, tubes were gone and there was a picture of a little blond boy smiling away, ready to take on the world.
Of course, I was shaken. Of course I thought why not Christian? Of course I was confused and sad and hurt and angry. Why not Christian? Then after a few days I forced myself to continue following his story. Something kept pushing me to rip that band aid off and continue rooting for this boy. It was a testament to a truly divine miracle in the making. No, it wasn't the cooling blanket. No, it wasn't that he was under the water for a shorter amount of time. It was a MIRACLE. And it remains a miracle as to why this boy seemingly suffered no damage. A testament, as it were, to the power of God and the mountains He can move.
So why not Christian? Beats me. It's really not up to me to figure it out, I guess.
And why am I drudging this up ten months later? Well, I saw Sara on the news this morning with little Bronson. Was I sad or hurt or angry? No. I was moved.
I was moved by her words and acknowledgement of all of us mothers out there who experienced similar tragedies and different outcomes. She whole heartedly acknowledged us. I felt like her words acknowledged Christian and it moves me that she is so painfully aware of what could have been Bronson's fate. Ten months later she very well could have ridden off into the sunset with her brood of healthy boys never looking back, never acknowledging anything but how lucky they were or how close a call it was. It moves me that she remembered us.
Ten months later I feel differently. When I saw her on TV with her rambunctious, energetic two year old, I no longer questioned why not Christian? Instead I thought about our entwining paths in this world and how each of us has a journey and a purpose that we may not yet be privy to.
Now you all know I'm a Christian and that means I'm a believer. I believe with all my heart that God intervened and used Bronson as a tool of how miraculous His healing is. I also believe with all my heart that God did the same with Christian and his friends. It just looks different. How fitting that this message is delivered to me this morning on the doorstep of the Christmas season.
If you're not a Christian or not religious that's okay. We all have our path to our Creator and this experience just happens to be ours.
And, Sara...thank you for remembering us.
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5 comments:
Anonymous - I'm glad you feel comfortable behind your namelessness to post whatever you want. I've deleted your comment first, out of a knee jerk reaction, and second, because it was completely mean spirited and nasty.
I would never go into someone else's home and try to prove to them that they're way of living and believing is wrong. This blog here is my home. And I don't understand why someone anonymously feels so self righteous that they can come into MY home and tell me that my way of believing, and Sara Staker's way of believing, is wrong.
Thank you for sharing your comments. I'm not sure what you aimed to accomplish other than a virtual f you. I'm glad you are so perfect and your life so untouched by misfortune that nothing bad has EVER happened to you.
I had actually written a lot more but then I talked to my husband who reminded me that for every negative person we have in our life, there are many more positive people who uplift us and INSPIRE us every day. And to know good, you have to experience bad sometimes. So thank you, Anonymous. You have made me that much more thankful, yet again, for all of the wonderful people who have crossed our path during this journey.
P.S. You can kiss my ass.
None of the people that posted the comments in reaction to Sara's story were anonymous, in fact they all seemed very validated in their veiws on what a neglectful mother Sara was/IS for leaving her SIXTEEN MONTH OLD son alone in a bathtub full of water. I never said I was perfect, nor did I imply that I was 'untouched' by misfortune, but I damn sure never risked my helpless children's lives because of lack of common sense. I agree with EVERY word those people that left comments on Sara's story said. They are grounded in reality and if others were as well (like the local police dept in her area), then Sara would be in prison right now for child endangerment and neglect. She's a DISGRACEFUL poor excuse for a mother, but you contine to float around in fairy tale land and convince yourself of what a wonderful mother she is FOR LEAVING HER 16 MONTH OLD BABY UNATTENDED IN A BATHTUB!!!! It must have just slipped her mind that he was just a baby and cannot breathe under water...Innocent mistake.
As far as this message being a "cyber f you"...consider it a Cyber reality check!
Hi Shauna. I thought about you the other day when watching that family on the Today show. I am truly inspired by your strength. I have followed Christian since the accident and I am amazazed at your little guy's strength and perseverance! He truly is a little super man:)
Sorry that these negative people lurk out there. Fortunately, the nicer more positive people trump the negative ones.
:) Karen
Your kids are so beautiful!
Love you Shauna! Just thought you should know that :)
Thank you, Karen! And love you, too, Heather!
You know, Anonymous, this will be the last time I address you. I'm in too much of a good mood from watching Tosh.o do standup.
I wasn't addressing those posters you simply copied and pasted from another forum. I don't care about them or what they have to say or the forum you copied from. But YOU posted on MY blog under anonymous. So I was addressing YOU as hiding behind the internet to talk crap about anyone you want.
It really sounds like you have an issue with her. And I'm still not sure what your purpose was to post on my blog. I'm writing about my issues with a subject you're obviously not familiar with and referencing Sara Staker. If you want to bash her, start your own blog and do it there. For the most part, the blog entry really only has a little to do with her personally.
Living in fairy tale land?! Ha! I wish. That's funnier than Tosh.O. And if you were familiar with this blog, you'd know this ain't no fairytale. But you don't follow this blog, obviously, and I don't want you to seeing as how you feel about a situation you know nothing about.
I really hope and pray you are NEVER faced with a tragic event in your life involving anyone you love. And if you think for a second that Sara Staker isn't 1000% regretful over the choice she made then someone here needs a reality check, certainly, and it's not me.
Now this is the last time I will address you. Take your anger elsewhere. Maybe start that blog of your own I suggested.
Signing off from fairy tale land. :)
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