#54 - TS

This is a very hard post to write, because it is very sad.  But, this blog is about people and things that have shaped my first 39 years, and this one definitely did.  #54 was the son of one of my good friends.  I say was, because he died of SIDS when he was four and a half months old.  For those of you who are fortunate enough to not know what SIDS is...a quick lesson.

SIDS stands for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.  It pretty much means that the child dies in their sleep and the doctors cannot really determine a cause of death.  They just do not know.  No one to blame.  Nothing that anyone could have done differently.  Very sudden.  Very tragic. 

#54's funeral was the saddest, most heartbreaking few hours of my life and I am not the mother.  I cannot even imagine the grief that my friend has experienced.  I know that they say that time heals all wounds, but I cannot help but think that every New Year's Eve, which is the anniversary of his death, the scab gets ripped off the wound again and the healing must start anew.

I can only say that because of my faith, I know that God called this precious child to live with him in glory.  I know that he is an angel in Heaven and is okay.  It is those that he has left behind that mourn his loss.  We mourn not only the loss of the joy that he brought to this world but also the continued joy his life would have brought and he grew up.  I know that he was born between my two oldest boys which would have made him around 12 or 13 years old by now.  In my mind, he will always be an inncoent, beautiful, baby boy. 

Blog readers - please take a moment to include this child, his family and friends, and all of the people in this world who have lost a child to SIDS, in your prayers today.