Jared on his 1st birthday held by his Aunt Cindy
I Feel My Savior's Love
I feel my Savior's love;
It's gentleness enfolds me.
And when I kneel to pray
My heart is filled with peace.
I feel my Savior's love;
By serving others freely.
In serving I am blessed.
In giving I receive.
He knows I will follow Him,
Give all my life to him.
I feel my Saviour's love,
The love he freely gives me.
When we arrived back home in Maryland, we found the new apartment we were renting unfinished. It would be about a month before we could move in. This left us with the dilemma of finding a temporary home for our large u-haul full of furnishings and a place to live. Our new Branch President and his wife, Cindy, owned a barn on one of their rental properties and graciously offered it to us for storage.
Then Steve's mom, Betty, moved right out of her small upstairs apartment and in with friends so that we could live there as long as needed. What a sweet sacrifice that was. I've never known another person on earth who is as loving and giving as Betty whom I affectionately call "Mom." Steve was fortunate to be blessed with an angel for a mother.
It was in that apartment that Jordan gave up his bottle. At 22 months old, he bit the last nipple off his bottle and we warned him that when that one "broke" there would be "no more bottle." The next thing I heard was Jordan and his dad chanting, "No more bottle! No more bottle!" Then we all joined in, raising our fists to the air and chanting, "No more bottle!" Jordan never asked for a bottle again! That was almost too easy. Joel was very attached to his bottle and would wake Steve and I up all through the night with calls for "bobble!" We didn't get a full night's sleep until he finally gave up his bottle.
Joel was amazingly color coordinated. One morning when he was around 24 months old, he climbed out of his crib, opened his dresser drawers, picked out all of his clothes and completely dressed himself from head to toe. Everything was perfectly matched and on exactly right. He climbed in bed with his dad and I and when I saw him I was amazed that he was up and already dressed. I accused Steve of getting up and dressing him and Steve accused me of the same until we realized that he had dressed himself to a "T." Ever since then he has been able to coordinate colors better than I ever could.
Almost as soon as our tires hit Maryland, we made a beeline towards Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Pennsylvania. I had called before we left Michigan and explained Jared's diagnosis and expressed my concerns about not having health insurance coverage until we could get Jared's SSI benefits transferred to Maryland. Jared also qualified for help from the crippled chldren's fund in Michigan but did not qualify in Maryland.
When I spoke to the caring professionals at CHOP they told me not to worry about the financial part of it; "just bring him to us as soon as you get to Maryland." When we arrived at CHOP, we were introduced to pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Gerald Barber. Dr. Barber became our anchor and made sure that all of Jared's visits were scheduled on days that he would be there. He assured us that the specialists at CHOP would be able to handle any situation that might arise regarding Jared's health. When we left CHOP, we knew Jared was in good hands.
After about a month of living in Steve's mom's apartment, ours finally was ready for tenants. It was very nice to move into a brand new, spacious three bedroom apartment. The Ridgely Park property line met with that of our apartment, making it convenient for me to take the boys for walks. There were slides and swings and monkey bars for them to play on. I loved the park and Joel and Jordan played their first t-ball games on the ball field there.
Soon after we moved into our apartment, my brother Donnie and his wife, Cindy, moved into an apartment in the same complex, the next building over. It was wonderful to have them so close to us. Cindy was a Licensed Practical Nurse and loved her little nephews dearly. She came over almost daily to give me a hand with my boys. It wasn't long, however, before she gave birth to my nephew, Patrick. He was a healthy bouncing bubbly bundle of joy for all of us.
Cindy decided to nurse Patrick and she produced enough milk to feed the whole nursery! She would bring 8 oz. bottles over for Jared. We would freeze what we couldn't use immediately and pour the rest into his feeding tube bag. I had wanted to nurse Jared to give him the best nature had to offer but I could not because of my own health complications. So, when Cindy was able to provide that liquid gold for her nephew, I could not express my gratitude enough. Jared and his Aunt Cindy had a special bond.
More to Come . . .
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