Danya:
Has a name been chosen for the abused little one yet?  I find myself
thinking of him as Christopher, after Christopher Reeve, who is so deeply
loved by his wife and so brave and positive in facing his altered life.  For
someone handsome, wealthy, athletic and famous to see the REAL values in
life (and to be the kind of person who inspires a love that has no regard
for physical capacity) is something I must admire.  How different from some
others I have known who also have "everything".  If this little boy is so
sweet in character and willing to live, he deserves to be named after
someone special, whatever the choice will be.
 
Karen (and Danya):
I read your post about Harold and Maude (one of my old favorites) and wanted
to share the story of a man we met yesterday.  Chris Wright is a Christian
singer whom I hope people will have heard of soon.  (He received a secondary
award at the Dove Awards.) Anyway, he has written a song for each of his
four children, but the one for the second child is the heart breaker.  She
was a twin whose sister died in the womb.  She was born prematurely and
saved by emergency procedures.  Then the doctors discovered the many brain
tumors which meant that she has never seen nor spoken nor walked.  She hears
better than any of us, though, and has a beautiful smile.  Chris sings to
her, of course (she is eight now) and he has learned something so beautiful
from the pain of having this disabled child that it is almost beyond my
narrow understanding.  When he holds her, he is transported by the sure and
certain knowledge that this world is not our final home.  It is not the
world we were ultimately made to inhabit, and the imperfect lives we live
and the suffering we experience are evidence of that.  When he holds her, he
knows that one day she will be whole and they will be together forever in a
way they can never experience in this brief life.
 
I hope that I will be able to learn as much from the pain my own life
brings/will bring.  Someone on this list has a great quote about the 12th
Step of AA in his signature.  When someone like Danya shares her pain, we
are all able to feel it and grow with her.  On this caring list, few of us
pretend to be islands, complete in ourselves.  As we work through the pain
of learning about this little ferret, and the losses of loved ferrets, and
the worry over all our babies, we learn by sharing and by example how to
love our fuzzies and support each other . . .  and how to be prepared for
the pain life inevitably brings.  Thank you Karen and Danya.
 
Judith White
[Posted in FML issue 1569]