Recalling the Beginning of our New Life - April 23, 2009

Six years. Hard to fathom it’s been that long. Time apparently flies even when you’re not having fun.

Six years ago, my kids were all little tikes. Arianna was not quite 7 and in first grade.  Caleb was in preschool and Katarina just celebrated her 3^rd birthday.

Six years ago, this very day, April 23, we began a new journey as a family, our new “normal.” Maybe we knew it from the time Sarah was first diagnosed with biliary atresia. We certainly knew it after her bleed that March. Reality can be difficult to accept, especially when your child is involved.

Still, we walked the road that lay before us. We've battled through the times of separation, the times of pain, the times of emotional instability and the times of endless questions.

We stand here now, in one piece, because of God’s grace and mercy. We stand here now because of a collection of people too numerous to name each one. But we wouldn’t be standing here without all of them.

I’ve said this through Facebook and other venues. The words don’t seem adequate but they’re all I have: THANK YOU. We have six years of thankfulness to dispense.

THANK YOU to the wonderful nurses on the transplant floor who’ve cared for Sarah, many of who became friends.

THANK YOU to the surgical staff for their remarkable abilities and care.

THANK YOU to all the doctors we’ve come in contact with due to Sarah’s frequent visits.

THANK YOU to the Transplant team, a spectacular assembly of transplant coordinators, nurses, doctors and surgeons.

THANK YOU to all the friends and strangers (who became friends) for spending quality time with Patty and Sarah, lifting their spirits, making them laugh, bringing gifts and supporting our family over the years.

THANK YOU to all the prayer warriors around the world who never wavered from the time of the original diagnosis through the realization a transplant would be necessary even to now, when even “normal” can fall outside the realm of ordinary. We wouldn’t have survived without you lifting Sarah and our family up in prayer.

To all of you, we are eternally grateful.  

Six years with our family still intact. God is gracious to us, beyond expression.