A letter to my son

Dearest Michael,

When I met you for the first time, I thought about all the things I would teach you. Never did I imagine that I would be the student, and you, the teacher. You've taught me that true strength is so much more than stamina. You have every right to feel sorry for yourself, and yet you never take the opportunity to do so. You have days where you are coughing until you are blue and vomitting and you want to know how my day is going. You were sitting in a hospital bed worried about the tornado victims and felt compelled to raise money to help them. You said "I just want the world to be a better place and I want people to have a happy life." You constantly amaze me with your loving disposition, passionate spirit and gentle soul. That soul that has always been stronger than your body. You have wisdom way beyond your 7 years. There is not a day that goes by that you don't make me laugh, smile and sometimes cry with your sweet words. The day you told me that you love me all the way to God and back is still one of the days I cherish the most. Those beautiful words still echo in my heart. I have so many hopes and dreams for you. I hope that you can get new lungs, that you get to fall in love, that you get to experience the joy of having children of your own some day, I hope that you are happy but most of all, I hope that you always know how much you are loved. It is an honor and a privilege to have you call me Mommy. Thank you for all you have taught me about the world, life, love,being gracious, and giving of yourself.

Love Always,
Your Mom

P.S. I love you all the way to God and back too.

Thankful

I am doing the Facebook thing and posting what I am thankful for every day in November. It is SO hard. Not because I am not thankful for anything. The truth is, I am thankful for EVERYTHING. I spend most of my day being thankful. About a month ago, we were told that Michael's disease is progressing faster than they thought, the bacteria in his lungs is slowly taking over and it isn't resistant to anything anymore. Meaning, the only thing that is going to save him is a double lung transplant and we need to think about doing it NOW. His life expectancy has gone from 4-5 years to 2. As you can imagine, we were devastated. Why am I putting this all in a blog about being thankful? When you hear those words, "You're child has 2 years to live," all of a sudden, life is put into perspective and trivial things don't matter so much anymore. So, I am thankful for EVERY LITTLE THING. I am thankful that we have the hope of a transplant, the advancements in medical technology that may save his life, good insurance, and the fact that we are moving forward towards a cure. But what am I most thankful for? Cystic Fibrosis. Yes, you read that right. I am thankful for Cystic Fibrosis. If my kids didn't have it, I might take things for granted. I might not take EVERY opportunity to show them how much they are loved, I might get a little more angry when they make mistakes, I might not be as patient with them, I might not think about how much time I have with them, I may not ever realize how truly blessed I am. My children have taught me how fragile life really is and how important it is to live in the moment and love without reserve. For that, I am beyond thankful.