We are grateful beyond words, but since we haven't updated this blog for over two years (sorry about that - we had some laundry) we thought we'd break the silence with a milestone.
It's a milestone because we remember that there are over six million kids each year that don't make it to their fifth birthday, sometimes for something as simple as having no clean water to drink. To keep it short, here are five things for which we're grateful on his fifth birthday:
1) He is extraordinary. He was born that way. We don't know where he got all of his awesomeness. He is ridiculously smart. He taught himself to read at 3, and reads the newspaper to us each morning now. He is patient and gentle. He is rarely rude or whines. He encourages others. He makes up his own jokes (that are actually funny). He shows gratitude to others. He tries new things even when he's afraid.
2) He has great medical care. There are children's hospitals and specialists that are equipped to treat him. There are ambulances that pick him up when he is most fragile. There is insurance that helps us pay for it. His doctors, nurses, and therapists are all competent, equipped, and compassionate. They are there when he needs brain surgery, when he has emergencies, when he needs medicine to get rid of infections, when he needs immunizations, and when his parents just need to be affirmed. They are there when he needs to be challenged to try and walk a little farther or grasp a marker a little tighter. High fives abound.
3) He has great schools. At his preschools he is surrounded by kids who know there are much more interesting things about him than the fact he uses a wheelchair. They have parents who teach them to accept and care for others, and for that we're grateful, too. There are administrators who know his name and try to create a place for him to learn unencumbered. And his teachers? They are amazing and dedicated pros. I know they spend time before and after school thinking about and making special plans to include and challenge him. They respect him and love him.
4) He has a great community. He is surrounded by awesome people who love him - our extended family, colleagues, friends, and church. He has great role models from people of many backgrounds and opinions who express their love in many languages. He brings out the best in strangers - from opening a door, to an encouraging word, to big gestures of generosity. Even if we can't, we know that Silas will always be loved and cared for by interesting, kind, and generous people.
5) He has four amazing grandparents. They are alive and healthy and they love each other. We have parents we can trust and who taught us how to do family. They are active in teaching and generous in caring for him, and we always get him back better than we left him. They respect the boy he is and the man he'll become. They are faithful to pray for him. They sing him old songs. They tell him they love him. They never show up empty-handed, even though we beg them to.
What do all five of these things have in common? They are all gifts. They are amazing grace. We didn't earn them. They are not the result of our virtue, hard work, or great decisions. We're not qualified to give advice on how to get all these things. Many of them will change or cease to be true over time. For now, we are grateful for who Silas is, grateful for what he has, and grateful that we get to be the ones to raise him.
We're totally taking credit for his great musical taste, though.
