i have two children, a daughter of 6, and a son who looks just like me who's 3.
both are healthy (far as we can tell), intelligent, beautiful looking kids.
my son's got a cough i need to get checked out, but aside from the little things like that, they can expect a normal life. not too much unlike my own. the issues they'll likely face will be like mine. seemingly important, but largely insignificant in the long run.
then i see a guy like this.. michael politzer.
imagine that you're the mother of a son who's terribly deformed. do you secretly wish he'll avoid the pain of a terrible life of being different, being under the knife for life saving surgeries?
do you tell yourself that it just wasn't meant to be and that god will take him soon?
or do you dam those types of thoughts deep inside and focus on the life that _is_ there and just pray that you'll get to see his smile and that tender boyhood enthusiasm?
i look at this kid and think.. he's probably lived his whole life in hospitals. by his own admission:
i've bucked the most daunting odds imaginable. from small bleeders to gaping, life-threatening wounds. but it's an uphill battle. i've been in the hospital more than 50 times and had 30 surgeries. that's a lot of slicing! i had my left leg amputated at the knee, my right foot partially amputated and reconstructed; my internal organs reconstructed twice; part of my bladder and intestines removed and bypassed. my massive left hip, thigh, and rear were debulked (cutting the bad stuff out) in 2002--a surgery i barely survived. i still have skin breakdown and oozing from the surgical site. that sucker just won't heal!
i wish he could live a normal life, but then i see his smile and just think man.. if that were my son.. i'd dedicate my life to giving him every second of joy possible.
some of our children will burn long like a candle and some will burn through life like a firecracker.
i'm hopeful that when i graduate in a couple years and am working with patients, that i'll have the chance to come across such a remarkable kid.
it just makes me appreciate, so much, the quality of life i've been given. and not only that, it makes me appreciate the purity of life in general - all material things aside. he may never get to ride a bike, but it doesn't mean he won't laugh and love more than some of us could ever dream to.
a lot of children stare, but i don't mind. i just tell them calmly about my disease and what happened to my legs.
i don't even know the guy and i wrote him an email telling him how proud i was of his attitude and personality and that i hope that i'll have the chance to show the true appreciation for life that he seems to have, and that we all tend to take for granted.
kiddos like this are the reason i want to work with kids when i'm a nurse..
