Heroism Through the Tears

I have become somewhat obsessed by the blogs that I found as I read about one of the 'unconventional dads' that was featured on Oprah.

'Matt, Liz and Madeline' features Matt's story, simply described on the blogs header: "Life and death. All in a 27-hour period. What you read here is what follows."

As I read the story of this family, I found myself caught up in the emotions of what they faced. I started at the present day and found myself wanting to go back to 'the beginning'.

Their story is heart breaking, yet amazing. How this young father picked himself up and got through the days, weeks and months that followed the birth of his daughter is awe inspiring.

As I went back and forth between the past and the present day blogs, I found another tragically inspiring story. 'The Spohrs Are Multiplying' chronicles another family's journey into parenthood as their daughter was born 11 weeks and 1 day prematurely. Once again, I started reading their present day blogs and found myself backtracking to the beginning of their story.

Their daughter survived all the odds and came home after 68 days in the NICU. She died unexpectedly 9 days ago, just 4 days shy of her 17 month birthday.

I have been riveted as I read about these heroic parents. Their stories could be any one's story. Our lives can be transformed in the matter of minutes. Life is precious and you can't predict the next turn your life may take.

As these blogs chronicle the events of the miraculous births of their children and record the mundane miracles of every day life, they are ordinary. How they survive the unthinkable and carry on is heroic.

Just moments ago, a parent dropping off their child told me of a stabbing that happened in our neighborhood school park. And of a 7 year old who drove his bike out onto the road in front of the school without thinking and was hit by a car. Both of these stories had happy endings. No one died or had life threatening injuries. But in that instant, anything could have happened. Hitting one's head in the wrong spot or a knife injuring a vital organ could have changed the outcome drastically.

As I sit and listen to the many stories of every day events happening to every day people, I can't help but think how every minute of every day that our lives carry on in ordinary ways ... is a miracle.

Every day people carrying on in spite of what life has given them, are my heroes.