Born @ 27 weeks
2lbs 7oz

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Sisterly love

I may be an only child, but the day I married my husband, I acquired two beautiful sister-in-laws. I have always known their hearts were pure, but their support this year has been unprecedented. 


My sister-in-law, Jen, has a special gift of connecting with people. People have a way of opening up to her. In turn, Jen has a way of soothing and supporting. Her natural talent, coupled with some recent events in her life have inspired her to go back to school (in addition of being a full time Mom to three!) for crisis counseling. Selflessly, she plans to use these skills to help others in need.


This week, I was both touched and honored to learn that Jen had included Shaw in a recent assignment. In her humanities course, she is studying ancient Greek culture and Greek epics. She was asked to write a 'mini epic' that includes a hero, obstacles and hope. 


By definition, an Epic is noting poetic composition, usually centered upon a heroin which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style. Epics are also described as heroic, majestic, impressively great. 


How fitting, Jen chose to write her epic about Baby Shaw...  



The Epic of Mighty Shaw

My nephew, Shaw, is about to celebrate his first birthday next month. He was born very prematurely, at twenty-seven weeks. He was barely two pounds and was about the size of a ‘Beanie Baby’.  Shaw’s parents were told that he had a ten to twenty percent chance of survival.  As Shaw struggled in the neonatal intensive care for four months, he endured countless medical procedures and interventions.  These ranged from blood transfusions to intubation to brain surgery.  Every day of survival became a miracle.

His life then and now continues to be all about reaching milestones. He has been diagnosed with hydrocephalus (swelling of the brain), which requires a permanent shunt, possible cerebral palsy, and brain damage.  Shaw is still working at sitting up at eleven months old. He has a way to go still. He is trying to make sounds and time will tell us whether or not Shaw will be able to communicate verbally. He smiles, a lot and for that we are all truly grateful. He is a happy baby and has a bright future as God’s child no matter the circumstance.

When his parents had decided on the name Shaw, it was to honor a past ancestor. Shortly after his birth, they came to learn that in the Old English language, ‘Shaw’, means dweller in/by the woods.  His start in this world has certainly been a challenge and his future will be beset by some limitations. However, Shaw has emerged out of the woods and continues to grow stronger every day.  While we call him “Mighty Shaw”, we in the family, all unequivocally acknowledge God has the true hero of this epic tale. From this little life we have all learned the blessing of a healthy child, the need for total dependence on God for all things and most importantly, that God is not measured in percentages. 

Jennifer, Candace, Stephanie
Christmas 2012

3 comments:

Eatonton, GA said...

How truly blessed we are to have so many caring and wonderful people in our family

Eatonton, GA said...

Forgot to say that the post was from Dee Dee

Lucia Dawkins said...

sister-in-laws are the best! great pic and story. xo