A Reason to Celebrate

On Saturday, December 10th I woke up to a now-common sound: “Dad….DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!” I hopped up out of bed and opened the door to our room to see little Mr. Nolan there in the hallway, arms held up, saying, “Take me downstairs?”  I bent down and scooped him into my arms and he put his arms around my neck and rested his head on my right shoulder.  Almost immediately Grant came up and I picked him up too.  It was a very special day.  I whispered, “Happy Birthday, big boys!” and I was immediately overwhelmed.  Here they are…my two little boys…and they’re FOUR!  I remember the mad rush to the hospital at 3am, the C-Section, the NICU stay for both babies.  I remember being happy as Grant did good enough to go home after 5 days, and I remember the fear that grew in the pit of my stomach every day as I knew sometime soon I’d have to hand over Nolan for a major heart surgery in an effort to save his life.

In the years since, Nolan has been through so much and continues to endure quite a bit.  He’s one tough little boy.  And Grant has been a fantastic little (by 2 minutes) brother.  Together they’re a wreck: a destructive force of giggles and tackle-hugs.  There was a time where we didn’t know if Nolan would see 4…but here he is: 3 heart surgeries later and still smiling and still fighting.  Each year at their birthday I reflect on what we’ve all endured.  There’s so much to celebrate…so much to be thankful for.  We’re thankful for our little family, for physicians, nurses, friends, family.

Happy birthday to my sweet Nolan and Grant…I can’t wait to celebrate year 5!