I am writing this post as a participant in Mama's Losin' It's Writer Workshop. This is not a lighthearted, happy post, but one I must share.I got up this morning planning to write about a different experience that caught me off guard. However, as I got my wits together, I chose to read the local paper's website. There, right at the top, was a story about a family that my family has gone to church with. Now, we've been absent from services off and on since the birth of our daughter, so we had not heard their sad news. Quite frankly, I think I would have been better off, in a way, if I had never heard their story.
The Craighead family helps to raise money for MDA by holding a huge car show every year. This year should have been no different. In fact, the show did go on. But, an important piece of their family was physically missing. This morning, I learned that their 12 year old son, Cory, passed away last October. He would have turned 13 this weekend, the same weekend as their annual show. Cory was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when he was younger and the disease finally overtook his body. I admire his parents for continuing to volunteer with the car show, though their young son is no longer with them. I honestly don't see how they do it. If I were in the same situation, I would have been distraught for months on end, and perhaps they are. Yet, they continue to make a difference for other families struggling with this horrid disease.
Children should not pass before their parents, yet sometimes they do. This story affects me even more strongly, I believe, because we also celebrated a birthday this weekend, as my son turns 9 today. Thanking God, I remember that he is happy and healthy. Another friend's son, Caleb, turned 13 this weekend, the same age Cory would have been. How is it that most children are born healthy, and retain their health, while others perish at such a young age? How are we supposed to cope with that? I just can't imagine the anguish that parents who lose their children must feel. I pray that the Craigheads, and other families facing similar hardships, find comfort and hope in God's presence. What more can I do?
Thanks for visiting my blog via Mama Kat. (I wasn't sure what I wrote that caused you to mention patching something up my dad?? I must be missing something.)
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about this family and admire their courage to help other families via fundraisers. I have a friend who has five children and 2 of them, yes 2, have MD and are confined to wheelchairs. The older one had a spinal fusion operation that went wrong and left him a paraplegic. The younger one went through the same surgery two months ago and is fine, but the mother (my friend) feared it could happen again. I don't know if I'd have the same courage, but this I know: God's grace is sufficient and He would give us the courage if we were called to walk thru the trial.