I believe people come into our lives for a reason. Sometimes we don’t know why but they make our lives so much better. I have the opportunity to have a boy in my life. G is 8 and I’ve known him since he was 2 and a half. He had a story that is really hard to hear but I see God’s hand on his life from day one. G was born to a couple who loved him so much. This was their first child. Unfortunately post partum depression happened after the birth of G. Nobody caught it and it makes people do things that they would never do. I can’t imagine how desperate they become and they think what they are doing is best for eveyone. There is help out there for anyone.
At the end of January on a cold day somehow G and his mom ended up in a very cold fast moving river. Unfortunately G’s mom died in the river and G was face down in the river they think for about 30 minutes. Someone passing by thought they saw a child in the water. Ambulances and helicopters came and got G out. He was 7 months old and was rushed to the nearest children’s hospital. They put him in a coma to help his brain recover. He was in the hospital for months and he was not expected to live. Not only did he live but nobody expected much from him. He had brain damage from the near drowning.
I met G and his family when I worked at a local daycare. He needed a one on one worker to help him with his daily activities. I remember the first day I met him he was super shy but he had a smile that lit up the whole room. I slowly got to know him. When I first met him he came with a team of support and I met with them about how his care would go. He was non verbal and when he started preschool he got an I pad to help him communicate with the other children and the adults around him. I had to learn how to use it and how to teach G to use it. I now was a part of his team and we and his family worked together to make sure that he was well cared for.
What I discovered when I first worked with him was I saw a similarity in how I was when I moved from Ireland to Canada and I was so low especially in school. My brain needed to be challenged. I saw the same in G, I realized when I took him out for walks that he never noticed a thing around him. All he could focus on was walking. I showed him how to expand his mind so he noticed things around him. I soon discovered he loved cars, trucks, excavators, anything that was big and moved. He noticed things I never noticed and he was always the first one to notice things that were different in his class or around him. I helped him with sign language and then his I pad.
His team had no expectations for him when I first met them. I realized that this boy tried everything no matter how hard it was so I pushed him to do things over and over again. It could 100 or more times for it to click and he got it. I helped prepare him for kindergarten. Toilet training came up and I told them yes I’m in for the challenge. 8 months of repetion and motivation and it paid off and G became trained. His team was in awe and when he graduated from Preschool the tears of joy and that’s when I was told they never expected him to do any of what he accomplished. I stood and told his graduating class and all the families what an amazing and awesome boy G is. It was hard for him but I told him that it’s hard now but we keep practicing and it becomes so much easier. He never gave up ever no matter how hard it was.
I’ve watched him grow up and he just finished grade 2. At age 6 he started to talk and has had years of speech therapy. I still remember the day he said my name for the first time. What joy that brought me. His speech has progressed so much and now he talks in sentences. He says the funniest things and he continues to keep learning and moving forward. He has the best sense of humor and he and I laugh so much. I have the great opportunity to hang out with him this summer. My favorite kid. I tell people G is like the kid I never had. He’s the light of my life and I love him very much. I’m so happy God put him and his family into my life. He’s one of my greatest blessings. He still works hard to overcome the things he can’t do but he never gives up. I look at how far he’s come to all the things he’s all ready accomplished and the list is huge and it makes me smile. 🙂
Beauty from Ashes. 