Recently, one of our friends called Brien offering to help us in any way that he could. This seems to be a regular occurrence for us and we are so very grateful to all of you for your love and support. Our friend mentioned that he had recently received a speeding ticket, which normally would have annoyed him. However, in thinking about Grace he just had to laugh about his own mishap. In the grand scheme of life, a speeding ticket was actually pretty humorous. I think maybe Grace had reminded him that he has a great life which includes a loving wife, as well as two very beautiful, and healthy, children.
Last weekend, Brien was attempting to replace the faucet in our guest bathroom. He tore out the old one and took everything out from under the sink. Our faucet was very old; probably the original one that was put in back in the eighties and the new one he bought didn’t quite fit the sink. Thus, after several painstaking hours of trying to figure out a way to install the new one, he finally gave up and called the plumber. For Brien, I think this was pretty annoying for him; he’s normally very handy around the house and loves to fix things himself. He gets a great sense of accomplishment from these types of things and also loves that it saves us money. I love that about him, the motivation to do things yourself because you know you can do it right is a great quality to have. I just had to laugh at the sink situation and realize that although we lost use of the sink for a day or two and had to pay more for a plumber, this was really just a little annoyance that we could laugh about. Guess what? Now we have a beautiful new faucet that looks great and actually gives the whole bathroom a really nice “remodeled” sort of look!
So, this week, Grace asks you to laugh with her. When something goes awry or annoys you this week just take a step back. Ask yourself, “Is this something that will profoundly affect my life in the long run?” If your answer is no, then have a good laugh about it, maybe share the experience with a friend, thank your lucky stars for what is great and constant in your life…. then move on. We may never get a chance to hear Grace laugh, but she can hear you laughing every day. She looks forward to hearing about your life’s little annoyances.
Gracie has already made me laugh and smile...I'm sure I will have more stories in the future for her, but right now, please share this w her for me. I am out in TN with no job and money is getting very tight..still when ever I start to get down, I think of Grace and I do smile and laugh at this experience! Holly give her a big hug and kiss for me :) and hugs to you and Brien for doing such an excellent job. You guys are great!
ReplyDeleteBaby Gracie always makes me look at my own life when an issues pops up or I get frustrated. I realize all what I have to be grateful for and those little annoyances as you call them or what I think I personally am dealing with is actually not as bad as I can percieve it to be. I think of Gracie numerous times a day, your lil angel is an inspiration in so many ways. And so are her awesome paretns!
ReplyDeleteIt certainly helps to put things in perspective for sure. Hunter reminds me everday as he waits for me to get him out of bed that I have soooo much to be thankful for. I look at the big picture a lot and thank God for what I have.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new sink, can't wait to check it out. It is in just this very way that Grace has blessed our lives as well . . . a lot less frustrations with the minor annoyances life has to bring . . . she has definitely helped us put so many things in perspective. There has been a lot less complaining and a lot more appreciating going on in our household since our Amazing Grace has come into our lives. Thank you Gracie for teaching us this lesson. xoxoxoxoxo
ReplyDeleteHi Brien and Holly,
ReplyDeleteI'm Bryan's wife Sarah and I thank Brien for sharing your blog and journey with my husband. My son now 11 had seizures when he was 7 days old, while I don't know much of EMEE and it is different that what my son had, I can tell you of our journey. I remember what it was like to watch my child have these episodes, and how helpless I felt. Reading your post brings back so many memories of this time. The doctor appointments after doctor appointments, test after test. It's scary and you have so many questions, so many unknowns. They found my son was Hypocalcemic and that was the cause of the seizures for him. This took months to figure out and corrected. Keep finding the strength to ask questions and seek answers. My heart aches for you both, keep faith and we'll be praying for Grace and her amazing story.
Love, Bryan & Sarah Ross
I saw the link to Gracie's page on the NKH website - you have a beautiful little girl! We live in the UK and have a 6 month old boy with NKH, we have had so many of the same thoughts and experiences as yourselves but like you we are just so grateful to have our boy with us. It's good to laugh at the little things in life that you begin to realise really don't matter. I think you are showing a huge amount of strength and are being the amazing parents that Gracie needs.
ReplyDeleteWe hope that Gracie continues to fight for a long time to come.
Helen, Neil and Jack x