10 years ago today, my sweet baby brother, John David, entered into the arms of Our Loving Father. My mother was just 31 weeks pregnant with my 8th sibling when she went into labor and 'knew' that this would be it. She left the house to go to the hospital with my father, telling us that they would call us when they got settled so that we could all be there for the birth. As the hours ticked by, we knew that something was not right. It had never taken them this long to get settled and every time we called, they were coming up with excuse after excuse to keep us away.
Finally, we all loaded into the van and went up there. As soon as we entered the room, things were not right - the lights were dim, mama had no monitors on, and my mother, that had naturally delivered 6 of her 7 prior children, had an epidural. . . Before we had a chance to ask questions, Papa had us gather around the bed and hold hands. As he wept he told us that the baby died. Our baby brother had died. . . All of us fell to the ground weeping. Screaming out in grief. We were prepared to be meeting this little one today, not saying farewell forever. . . Rachael, Michael, and I all continued to cry until we had to leave. We had to get away. We could not stay there. . .
We all went our separate ways and returned to the hospital just in time to see our precious brother make his entrance into this world. The rest of the day is a blur. We held him and rocked him. We bathed him and clothed him. We blessed him and celebrated his 31 weeks with us. We counted his fingers and cut his hair. We loved him - oh did we love his little 3lbs 13oz body, his long fingers and huge feet. His thick black hair. John David was perfect - absolutely perfect. . .
It is so hard to believe that this was 10 years ago - so much has happened since then, but amazingly, life has continued. My family has continued to move on, even though John David is very much a part of our life. There is an entire sofa table at home dedicated to him. There are pictures everywhere. His beautiful homemade outfit is hanging up in the entryway with all of the bonnets. There is a painting of the 3 brothers. There are reminders all over of this precious baby that entered into Heaven before any of us were ready. . .
I hope that my family knows that I am holding all of you extra close in prayer today. I love you all.
Saint John David, pray for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment