I learned about love at a very early age...
...I was loved by my wonderful parents who raised me with all they had.
I learned about love from my Church and Christian school...
....they taught me about how much God loved me...
...that He sent His only Son to die on a cross to save me from my sins.
I learned about love from my husband....
....some of the best and the hardest lessons in love are learned from our spouses.
BUT...
I don't think I ever truly understood LOVE,
until I had
Tristan.
If you speak French or Spanish, you know that the word
"triste"
means sadness.
I think my poor son has had his share of sadness, even at this very young age.
Tristan's life
is a lesson in Love.
He tried coming into this world right on time 8 years ago today like any normal kid...
but God had some different plans.
After 30+ hours of labor Tristan was delivered C-section.
He wasn't breathing at first...but after some scary moments & modern medicine,
he was crying like the best of them!
We very soon realized that Tristan had a
ZEST
for life... a sort of internal happiness & excitement that never truly seemed to wear off.
He was a wild child never afraid of anything...and laughing all the time!
(Nurses always called him the "happy baby" at check ups!)
Always the MOST excited kid wherever we went.
Then it happened...
One day when he was 4 we realized something wasn't quite right with Tristan's face.
It looked bruised, and withered....but he had no pain.
After much long deliberation with doctors....
we were told he had something called
which is an Autoimmune disease of the
Rheumetalogical family.
Basically, fatty tissues on his face have turned to "stone" with too much production in collagen.
Thankfully,
Tristan's case was caught very early on, medicated well (through countless trips to hospitals etc..), and is now seeming like the "lesion" is softening up and possibly coming to an end?
His case seems mild in comparison to some....like those who end up with
Systemic Schleroderma; & for that we are thankful.
The good part in all this chemo taking and hospital excursions?
Tristan
is
NOT
sad,
in
fact.....
he's
HAPPY!
Our son Tristan is such a trooper & a joy!
He is far from sad!
He is my inspiration; a boy with a special gift.
A gift to take life in stride; to always keep smiling no matter what.
Oh sure....
he's had hard days.
But,
he always chooses joy in the end.
We are so proud of him, thankful for him, and humbled that God chose for him to be our child.
We don't deserve him.
Out of our sadness for his situation,
comes
LOVE.
Real Love.
The sort of Love you would never understand until you've held it in your arms & felt it.
Tristan
Is
the
Son
who
taught
me
to
Love.
To him I'd like to dedicate this entry...
A very Happy 8th Birthday to you Tristan!
We love you!
:)
 |
| Big brother Tristan with little bro Elliot. Halloween 2011 |
 |
| Pirate Tristan getting unruly.... |
 |
| Elliot the Knight to the rescue.... |
 |
| Hooray! We are saved from the dread pirate Tristan! Thank-you Sir Elliot! oh... Boys will be boys! |
We are now praying that Tristan's disease can come to an end.....but that's the hard part.
Schleroderma is not a disease that often comes to an end.
It can resurface...or not.
Who knows....
....and so it goes.
We just don't know what the future will hold for
Tristan.
But...
we know that God loves Tristan even more than we do.
&
No matter what could come for him tomorrow...
that we are all better lovers for knowing him
&
that he will be loved and cared for by all those who's lives he's touched.
Praise the Lord for He is good, His LOVE endures forever!
Thank-You Lord,
Your
LOVE
astounds
me.
Even in all of this I praise your name; I know You allow bad things (via sin) to happen to good people...even children...so that Your LOVE-LIGHT can shine.
May Your LOVE continue to shine through Tristan & other ill children like him.
We all need to learn better how to Love; help us to pay attention.
:)
T.
xx
this post touched me deeply...sending my heartfelt love to you and to Tristan. Tell him happy birthday too!!!
ReplyDeleteThank-you so much sweet friend....I appreciate your comment & yes I will wish Tristan a very happy birthday too! I know he will get a silly little shy grin and giggle to know that ladies are wishing him a happy birthday! ;)
ReplyDeleteGod is GOOD all the time!! Pd
ReplyDeleteThis is a very lovely post!!!!! I can feel your love for your son through the computer! So sweet. His smile does indeed light up a room. Have a great day,
ReplyDeleteOh what a lovely boy! I know everything will turn out right, I just feel that!
ReplyDeletexo
Susana
What a beautiful and touching post!
ReplyDeleteHAPPY BIRTHDAY Tristan! I know Jesus has something very special in store for you sweet boy! Keep smiling, keep shining and keep being a blessing!
Saralee Lathrop