I will start with the latter.
It started out as a normal holiday weekend. We went to our camp for the first half and finished the second half off with friends and family.
While at camp I got a text from my sister (service there is touch and go you cant dial out to save a life..literally) it read.."did you hear about the baby giraffe" So I instantly tried to bring up facebook to find out what she was talking about sure enough I had service got to the Cincy zoo page and read the horrific update :( (oddly i couldnt get service again after that)
For those of you who dont know Giraffes are VERY special animals to our family, simply they are Kayla's very favorite. She has had a tiny stuffed one she has carried around since she was 9 months old named cappuccino (or cappy as we call her) when kayla heard the zoo was going to have a BABY one well you would have thought this kid won the lottery or something she was BEYOND excited. In fact due to my bed rest I didnt get to take her to see the baby until just this past Monday the 27th
When Korbin died friends of ours even donated in his memory to Zuri the baby.
The loss of the baby giraffe was a difficult one to us..we havent even told Kayla yet and dont plan to until we are on vacation.. a HAPPY place to help ease the pain.
Then hours after getting that call we got word from some dear friends of ours that Tony Merk the little 6yo (bravest little man i have never met) who was battling brain cancer was taking a turn for the worse. His family had done all they could (and the term above and beyond doesnt even describe it here folks) he had emergency surgery on Sunday which the Drs frankly said only bought very little time.
Yesterday at 6:20 pm Tony earned his angel wings and INDEPENDENCE from pain and suffering and went on into the hands of our lord.
This was a LONG painful journey that Chris and I followed closely. Many of the Merks are very dear close friends of ours. Chris has been friends with them since a teenager and they are like family to us.
On the way home from my mom and dads last night Chris and I were saying what a REALLY nice weekend we had. We were surrounded by many friends and family. It was relaxing even tho we ran around a lot and it had almost seemed to good to be true...and sadly it was :(
We had prayed for weeks (months) for a FULL recovery of that precious little man. I had even prayed "oh please lord if my sons brain has to be damaged then HEAL Tony's give him the good working parts so that he may live a full life"
but as always God has other plans and we will never understand them in this world.
The mysterious angel...we are not sure but some time a few weeks ago an adorable white angel statue sitting reading a book just appeared on the back corner of Korbins grave. We thought it belonged to the boy behind him..Austin. So we kept moving it back and it kept inching forward. Last week when the three of us went to visit it had been place SMACK dab in the center of korbins grave as to say HERE silly this belongs HERE!! We are not sure who placed it there or if it truly belongs. No one in our family knows where it came from. But oddly it is VERY fitting you see because Kayla LOVES books. When I say loves I really mean loves. Since she was able to sit up she has had a book shelf in her toy room. At the old house on Morrvue the shelf sat right in the playroom doorway. She used to sit there and pull EVERY book off the shelf to look at. Then after a month or so my very smart best friend (who loves to organize and rearrange entire households lol) said I think we need to move the bookshelf to the other wall that way if she pulls all the books off they wont be all over the floor in the doorway. So we moved it :)
To this day I cant get our of reading at least TWO books a night. Sometimes I will go in at night and she will be up still reading books in bed.
So to whoever has left the angel we love it THANKS :)
and finally The wishing well...
many of you hear this and think maybe one of those things they have at the zoo or museum center you drop the coins in and they spin round and around. Or maybe you are picturing a good ole fashion one like the one snow white sang into with the roped bucket.
Nope that is not what I am talking about here.
Last Thursday I took Kayla to McD's for dinner while placing our order Kayla noticed one of the coin collection containers for the Ronald McDonald house and she asked "mommy is that a wishing well? can I have money to make a wish?"
I stood there in awe for a moment of how a tiny child could bring a realization that we were too blinded to see before. You see I had personally (even tho we always put our change in there) had never looked at it that way...but that is EXACTLY what those boxes are.
One of the moms I have recently met from our Encephalocele support group had just had her son (at 32wks) and was actually using the RMH to stay at while her son Liam was in the NICU. She had been describing all the wonderful accommodations they had there. And best of all THIS particular RMH was RIGHT INSIDE THE HOSPITAL.
Most people dont realize what its like to have a child at the hospital and have to drive so far home and back to be with them that alone is a GREAT reward.
SO after pondering Kaylas question I looked at her and replied "why yes baby it IS a wishing well it helps MANY sick babies like our Korbin be close to their familes" and I handed her a $5 bill and said now make a big wish for those sick babies!!
So its been business as usual for us (running around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off)
we are preparing for our family vacation next week.
We ask all of you still following our blog to please pray for peace and comfort for the entire Merk family (and there are a ton of them :) ) as they go through this very difficult and trying time
God bless you all and HUG and KISS your loved ones often!!!
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