Chloe celebrated her 1st birthday today! We celebrated her birthday at a nice restaurant on Long Island not too far from Michelle's parents house. Chloe was surrounded by family and close friends. My parents and godmother flew in from Canada and one of my aunt's flew in from St. Louis to join in the festivities. They were all very surprised and pleased to see how far she has progressed. My mother last visited when Chloe first took ill. So for my mother to see her progress from being intubated to now sitting upright in her wheelchair wide awake is a true miracle.
While I write this blog Chloe sits in front of me. Looking at her beautiful face I think back to how difficult and trying this past year has been for her and for our family. She's one now and while I am overjoyed to celebrate this miraculous day, at the same time I remain a little sad. She brings in her first year of life unlike anything Michelle and I, or any parent for that matter could envision for their child. It was a year filled with very joyous moments such as her birth, her first smile and laugh, wonderful times spent with Olivia, many happy trips to Long Island spent with her grandparents, aunts and uncles. Then at almost 8 months old her life and ours took a very unexpected and difficult turn.
Four months have passed since that fateful day. And in that time we have experienced the whole gamut of emotions including sadness, anger and melancholy. Since returning home from her hospital stay, we have been given a second chance to experience many firsts again. We celebrated her first taste of food, trips out to to her grandparents and most recently her first smile. Since recovering from her meningitis, everything has returned to some extent, she now lifts her head little by little, she can almost turn herself over onto her tummy, her eyes are wide and bright again. But, her smile evaded us - or it was always there, just buried under the neurons constantly firing within her brain trying to sort themselves out and find some sense of direction. Chloe's smile and laugh were intoxicating, she could easily make everyone stop and take notice. Her smile had a way of making everything better. For the longest time we waited to see her smile again. Of all things, not seeing her smile was among the worst of feelings we had to endure. So to see her smile again has been the most wonderful sight to see. It's sort of a cross between a smirk and sneer. I've never seen anything so beautiful.
Much love and thanks,
Rethier, Michelle, Olivia & Chloe
No comments:
Post a Comment