I usually try to make this blog about the great things in our lives, but with the good come the bad and this is one very sad moment in our lives that I wanted to share.
As most of you are aware, Zoe has a congenital heart defect, and I also work as a RN with kids after heart surgery, so this really is something I live and breathe every day. We have a support group for parents and families of kids with heart defects and we are very active in it. It is a tight nit close group where every one knows every else’s kids and sometimes the one place you can forget about your kid’s differences and celebrate their normalcy. Zoe is luck in the fact that she has not had to undergo surgery yet, and maybe never will, but because of what I do at work, I see good and bad and constantly wonder what our future holds and if we will be in the same shoes as some of these parents one day.
We lost one of our wonderful kids after surgery this week. I had the pleasure of being a part of his care at work but also of knowing him beforehand and all I can say is what a wonderful, caring, always smiling young man he was. The world has lost a great gift in him. His name is Jacob and he was 17 years old. Zoe just loved him. All the kids loved him. Not many teenage boys want to go to a function where most of the kids are 8 and under, but he never missed an event and would gladly volunteer to be a human jungle gym to all. Please, as you begin to celebrate this holiday season and tuck your kids into bed tonight, remember Jacob and his family.
Here is a pic from last fall of Jacob and Zoe
