It Has Been A Long Winter

Winter some years seems to drag out longer than others, but this year it has seemed extra long and dreary. Everyone has their highs and lows, good news and bad, and you learn to take what life gives you and make the best of it. Right before Christmas my family received some especially sad news that was confirmed just a few days later.. My nephew hadn't been hitting the typical milestones that infants and toddlers do. His parents, Justin and Esther, worked with multiple specialists trying to find a cause so they could help him in anyway possible. The answer they did get was shocking and tragic. Here is what Esther posted soon after getting the diagnosis. 

"We got the DNA results. Tanner tested positive for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. I am sad. I am scared. I am not sure how someone is supposed to cope with the news that your child will not be getting better, but instead progressively worse. That there is no treatment, no cure. That every illness is potentially life threatening. So I cling to the fact that there are people out there actively working on a cure and hope and pray that one will become available in time to benefit my sweet little mamma's boy. That I will finally get to wake up from this nightmare."  

I can't even imagine the pain and heartache that comes along with finding your child has a fatal disease, but watching my sister-in-law cope with this as gracefully as possible has been incredibly touching.  

Each Christmas our family draws names and this year Tim and I picked Justin's family. One of their other sons had told me at Thanksgiving that he knew his parents wouldn't get him a dog, so could Tim and I please get him one. So we did the best we could under the circumstances (stuffed dogs instead of live) and brought them a whole circus. 

Charcoal, as usual, had to be involved in any project I work on.

Of course this lion needed to be dressed up so I got to work on a bow tie and a crown.

A bow tie for the monkey.

And each circus dog got his own collar.

The circus was a hit with all three boys, but Tanner especially loved the dogs and was trying to hug all three at once. His smiles and bubbling laughter were priceless.