More balloons

I'm taking a break from studying. Only so much a person can do in one evening without going completely insane. The house is quiet - except for the sound of Carter's cough. The kids have been passing it around for the past week or so. I thought I'd post some more balloon pics. Thank you all so much for sending them. These are from friends of my step-mom, Teresa. They work at Children's Miracle Network.

Their balloons did much better than ours.

Here's my sister, Heather, and baby Addie. I couldn't enlarge the pic without it being too "pixelated" - is that a word?

These pics are from Justin and Jill. They're our cousins on Greg's side of the family. Justin is a youth pastor in Texas and came by to check on us and Mav frequently while we were in Dallas. I had to post the message he sent along with the pictures. It brought tears to my eyes.

Greg and Juli,
I had the privilege of sharing Mav's story with our students tonight. We talked about how compassion and love enable us to leave a mark on our world. I was amazed today when I began thinking how Mav left an indelible mark on this world and how his sweet spirit echoes here and in eternity. We wanted to take the opportunity to be involved in the balloon release so attached are pictures of the group, Ryan (who was in the hospital the same time as Mav), and the balloons floating across Princeton. Thanks for sharing your lessons with us through the blog and for giving us the chance to share in the celebrations of his life of impact.

Sincerely,

Justin and Jill

I was just tagged on facebook with this picture. My blog-friend, Mary helped start up the Michigan chapter of It's My Heart. They did their first heart walk recently - here's a copy of the back of their shirt - little Mav's name is on it.

Thanks, Mary.

This past week I had the opportunity to speak with an Oklahoma City radio station for a pre-recorded interview for Children's Miracle Network's upcoming radio-a-thon. I met them at Children's in the lobby and told them about Maverick. The other people that were there to do interviews had their miracle kids with them. I explained to the guys that I was the other side of the story - that not all the little miracles get to go home. I thought I could be strong and talk about it, but I cried a little. After I left, I thought about all the things I wish I would have said - like telling more about Maverick not just his medical conditions. I wish I would have mentioned his big blue eyes and long eyelashes, and how he liked his monkey and his mobile. Oh, well. I guess the point of my story is that more money needs to be raised for research for congenital heart defects and for new treatment options. Hopefully that point will make it across to the listeners if they decide to air it.

Since I've last written, Chloe has had a birthday. She's now four years old. Time flies. I still need to download the pics from her party, so I'll post them in the next few days.

Well, it's getting late and I need to go to bed. I have a paper to get finished in the next few days. It's for Nursing Theory and is a concept analysis on "adaptation." I think I have plenty of life experiences to understand that concept. Love you all, jc