.: The Angels Are Calling

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

The Angels Are Calling

This is a photo of a little boy named Caleb who is in our ward. He looks perfectly normal and acts just like any other 4 year old, but last week his doctors told his mum they don't expect him to live much longer than a week.

Caleb was born with heart complications, and instead of having 4 heart chambers like the rest of us, he was only born with one. He has been on heart medication since he was a baby and has been in and out of hospital quite a few times in his little life. Now his doctors have reached a point where there is nothing more they can do for him. Every day his heart is getting weaker and it could be any day or night when his heart will simply stop beating.

This is the saddest news I've heard in a long time. Its been hard to get off my mind. It is devastating for the family as they never expected Caleb's life would be so short. I've been thinking to myself all week how I would feel if someone told me one of my children only had 5 days to live... it would be such a 'heart sinking' feeling. It has made many of us in the ward realize how we sometimes take life, and the people we love, for granted.

Our Ward has really pulled together to do all they can to help the family. Last weekend Tony organized a small service project to clean up the family's yard (he's their hometeacher), the Young Women visited Caleb at home and sung him Primary songs, and nearly half the ward has taken turns at cooking the family dinner. It is such a great feeling of unity and love when everyone goes the extra mile to help and support each other through tough times.

This weekend the Wiggles did a show in Auckland. Caleb got to personally meet the Wiggles and during their concert they sung a couple of songs dedicated just to him.
Caleb and his mum;

I have a friend named Alice who is a balloonist. So I told her about Caleb and asked her if she would make Caleb a big fancy balloon to make him smile. She made him a monkey and a 'big smiley boy' and last Sunday we took it over to his house. It definitely made him smile, and a week later it is still standing by his bed. He won't let his little brother touch it and he proudly shows it to everyone who comes into the house to visit.

The doctors prognosis of him only having a week to live has already passed, so fortunately for Caleb and his family, he's been granted a little more time. Now it's just a waiting game. He is playing with his brother at home just like normal... NO ONE would ever know there is something so wrong (although he is always telling his mum he is really sick and very tired). At least for Caleb - who doesn't fully comprehend his situation - he is enjoying his last days at home with his toys, surrounded by all his cousins, grandparents, aunties and uncles.
Caleb with one of his cousins;

No family wants a 'storm' like this one, but it sure does remind the rest of us how fragile life is. And it reminds us that something we have today could be gone tomorrow.

Time for a tissue!

2 comments:

Jen Kesler said...: So sad!; April 2, 2010 at 5:41 AM
Christy said...: That is so sad... I got a lump in my throat. It so makes you grateful for what you do have; April 21, 2010 at 3:10 PM

Funny Comments

Ashton walking into the supermarket quietly whispers to himself: "Please can I have macaroni and cheese, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Ashton: "I want to live with Jesus." Mummy: "Why?" Ashton: "Because he be nice to me and he gives me bread and water!"

Mummy, examining Ashton's legs, and thinking: My goodness, what hairy legs. Ashton, unimpressed with Mummy's examination, pulls away: "Don't touch them. I'm growing Daddy legs!"

Hayden gets upset at Ashton: "Right Ashton, that's it! I'm telling Jesus on you!"

Ashton with a cold: "I'm snotty as a piggy."

Hayden: "The sun is burning my eyeballs."

Hayden: "Mummy, how come your penis is missing?"

Hayden: "I get the bigger piece of cake because my skeleton is bigger."

Hayden (3yrs old) sees me get dressed in the morning and stares at my breasts with a confused look..."What thooooose be for???"

Hayden: "I don't want to finish my pizza, it's got blood all over it."

Hayden: "Ashton hit me in the heart."

Hayden learns the planets at Preschool: Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Penus!

Hayden (shopping with me and whining): "My brain hurts forever because you haven't buyed me anything."

QUOTES

Like the changing leaves of fall...My little boy is now a man.
--Author Unknown

Boys are God's way of telling you that your house is too neat!
--Author Unknown

There never has been, nor will there ever be, anything quite so special as the love between a mother and a son.
--Author Unknown

Boys are found everywhere - on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.
--Alan Marshall Beck

Something For A Giggle....

I Owe My Mother ....

My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

My mother taught me RELIGION. "You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

My mother taught me LOGIC. " Because I said so, that's why."

My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

My mother taught me FORESIGHT. "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

My mother taught me IRONY. "Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS. "Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. "Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

My mother taught me about STAMINA. "You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

My mother taught me about WEATHER. "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY. "If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. "Stop acting like your father!"

My mother taught me about ENVY. "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. "Just wait until we get home."

My mother taught me about RECEIVING. "You are going to get it when you get home!"

My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."

My mother taught me ESP. "Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

My mother taught me HUMOR. "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

My mother taught me GENETICS. "You're just like your father."

My mother taught me about my ROOTS. "Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

My mother taught me WISDOM. "When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

My mother taught me about JUSTICE. "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!