Sunday, May 8, 2011

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

What a joy to have both of my children at home with me this year for Mother's Day (Mother's Day was one of 7 holidays that Bodie spent in the hospital last year). And to add to the joy of the celebration, I got to have my amazing mother in town for Mother's Day as well! I love you mom!

I received 2 very special Mother's Day treats on Saturday night, although neither was actually intended to be a Mother's Day gift. First, I had the privilege of tagging along with my dear heart mom friend Dana to the CHLA Gala to celebrate the opening of the new hospital building. Wow, what a night! In addition to celebrating CHLA and some incredible fundraising done (over $1B raised!), I had an opportunity to reconnect with some of the surgeons, critical care doctors and nurses who had taken such unbelievable care of Bodie. It really was incredible to get to see them completely out of the hospital setting. And it was quite amazing to hear how many of them had seen our Sisters by Heart video and were so touched by it and interested in what we are doing. Dana I just kept remarking on how far we had come since last year, as both of our very special heart babies were lying in the cticu so very, very sick. Now, they are both doing incredibly well. What an amazing blessing! It was such a wonderful night - thank you Dana for thinking to invite me - and thank you Mark for letting me steal your amazing wife - and your seat! :-)

When I got home from the event, I checked the California Secretary of State website. We filed our Articles of Incorporation for Sisters by Heart on February 14, but the great state of California has a 2 month + backlog right now, so we have been waiting...and waiting...and waiting to hear that our articles had been accepted. Well, lo and behold, on Saturday night, the site listed Sisters by Heart as a California nonprofit corporation! Our next step is to obtain our 501(c)(3) status so that all of your much-appreciated contributions will be tax deductible! It was such a wonderful step for us!

Today, we celebrated Mother's Day by going to church in the morning, then out to lunch with my parents and my brother Matt, his wife Val and their angel of a child, 10 month old Michael (seriously, he is such an angel - he slept peacefully all during lunch and then woke up all happy and smiling and was just as content as could be to sit on Val's lap, cooing at everyone and happily playing. Meanwhile, Bodie was alternating between laughing and breaking down into crocodile tears at the word "no," hurling silverware onto the floor, stealing food off my plate, demanding to get out of the highchair and cruise around, and crawling under the table to try to pick food up off the floor to shove in his mouth. Seriously. You see why I call Michael the angel child? LOL). But it was a wonderful lunch. And in addition to a sweet handmade card that Dusk helped Sierra and Bodie make for me for Mother's Day, Sierra made me a sweet, sweet "portrait" of me for Mother's Day, along with a quote her teacher had taped to it that read "I love my mom because she plays games with me. She plays Babies and dress up. She takes me to the store and she hugs me. She kisses me on my cheeks. She likes salad and she likes dogs. She does't have any dresses she likes pants." Seriously, is that the sweetest gift ever? One I will cherish forever. (Oh, and a special thank-you to her teacher for probably editing out the not so flattering stuff Sierra told her about me!)

All in all, it was a wonderful Mother's day and such a reminder to me of how much I have to be grateful for. A big part of my heart was heavy today, thinking of my sweet fellow heart moms who don't have chubby cheeks to kiss and hands to hold today, who had to say goodbye to their angels far too soon. My mind never wandered far from Nicole (missing Travis), Laura (missing Gwen), Jen (missing Mia), Jillian (missing Wyatt), Jill (missing Joshua), Miranda (missing Wyatt), Lauren (missing Caleb), Heather (missing Parker), Katie (missing Olivia), Courteney (missing EJ) and Cindy (missing Isaac) and far too many others. And fellow mom Sharon, always Sharon (missing sweet Ali). I know for these moms, Mother's Day will never be the same. Sending you all love and hugs today. xoxo

I wanted to close with a really special poem that I came across. It was written by Stephanie Husted, a mother to a son with HLHS. Stephanie has such an amazing gift and her words touch my heart so deeply. Thank you Stephanie for sharing your poems with all of us.

A Mother's Day Poem
This is for the Mothers...
(Each mother that I've known)
Whose greatest hope was someday,
To have children of her own.

For the ones who proudly rocked their dolls,
And kissed them each goodnight,
This is for the Mothers...
Who were told..."Something's not right".

This is for the mother...
Who when faced with such a trial,
Sits beside her child's bed,
Just praying all the while,

For moms who learned of patience,
In a way that no one should,
For the mothers who know sometimes,
Life is anything but good.

When dreams of all the "oohs" and "ahhs",
As doting friends arrive,
Become instead...a battle,
To help their child thrive.

This is for the mothers...
Who refuse to face defeat,
Who become their child's advocate,
Who teach their child to eat.

Appointments fill their busy lives,
It's time to go again,
With feeding pumps, and specialists,
A tank of oxygen.

As people stop...to take a look,
Just wondering...what's wrong?
I've seen that look, a hundred times,
"You must be very strong".

The oohs and ahhs...don't matter,
Now life seems much more clear,
I'm lucky I'm his mother,
I'm blessed that he's still here.

This is for the mother....
Whose shaking hands release,
The child that she loves so much,
(And then she prays for peace)

"We will take good care of him"
The nurse says carefully,
This mother's thoughts are simple,
"Lord bring him back to me.

His life no longer in her hands,
She wonders what's in store,
This is for the mother....
Who has walked this road before.

This is for the mother....
Whose worst fear comes to light,
"Were still not certain what went wrong...."
"We'll watch her through the night."

For mothers who sit powerless,
Praying...please let her survive,
For mothers who must go on somehow,
When their miracle doesn't arrive.

As some wake up on Mothers day...
To kisses, cards and laughs,
Others have just memories,
and well worn photographs.

This is for the Mothers....
Who knows that it's a treasure,
To have a child...love a child,
There is no greater pleasure.

For runny eggs and blackened toast,
Arranged upon a tray,
With a bunch of wilted dandelions,
"Mom does it taste okay"?

For every busy restauraunt,
And every crowded mall,
The words...."I love you mama" are...
The greatest gift of all.

~Stephanie Husted
Heart Mom to Braeden


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4 comments:

  1. I am so glad you had such a wonderful Mother's Day. Congratulations to you ladies on your tax-exempt status...that is great news! And of course, Stephanie's poems mean so much to us heart parents...she is an amazing mom as well.

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  2. Happy Mother's Day AMY! What a blessing you have received. Thank you for always sharing. The poem is beautiful.

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  3. Happy Mother's Day to you! I love Stephanie's poems, had never read this one so thanks for sharing. Of course, it brought hot tears.

    Congrats on all of your work with Sister's by Heart! You gals are doing an amazing service with it. Way to go!

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  4. Congratulations on getting incorporated!!! Yay!!! Glad that you had a wonderful Mother's Day!

    I know I say this all the time but Stephanie really does write the BEST poems!!! They always tug at my heart!

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