Got kids?

I don’t. I will eventually, as for how many we’re still unsure.

I always hear parents say that everything changes (emotionally) when you have kids. That its this unreal experience, like a paradigm shift. I hope that when the day comes all of that is true, but I hope it lasts as well.

There’s a nursing home for kids really close to the hospital. These are kids who need direct medical care 24/7. Most can’t walk or speak, many of them have contracted limbs, traches, and feeding tubes.  Many times when the kids get sick, they come right here. I always wonder what they can process, can they hear me or understand me now? will they forget it in 5 seconds?

This picture was taken in November, this little guy was brought to the hospital for a high fever. For a kid needing medical care he was a rowdy one. So much so that the staff had me sit with him just to keep him distracted, the iPhone kept his attention for a bit but a few seconds later he be squirming and pulling at his trache. In fact the only thing that really kept him sedate was my beard. He would touch it and pull at it, completley fascinated by it. When his care nurse came into the room she explained his story a little better.

His family lives in Brooklyn and wanted a place for him stay that was cleaner then NYC facilities so they brought him to Long Island. His father is orthodox Jew and comes to visit about once every 2 weeks. This explained his obsession with facial hair, it reminded him of Dad.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to have a child and then send them away because you are unable to properly care or provide for them. Even though I don’t have kids and maybe I can’t “understand” just yet, I would still want my child to know who I am and that I care deeply for them.

I want to live as the example set by God, accepting, faithful, and true regardless of my kid’s situation.

Enough of my rambling, go home and hug your kids.