Five Years...

Five Years. That is One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty Six days since we received the phone call that brought us to our knees. Five Years since Luke was given a 3% chance of even making it through the night. Five years that he has spent fighting every single day to regain what he had. Five years that we have walked this journey called Traumatic Brain Injury. I can remember thinking once Luke was "out of the woods," and we knew he was going to survive, well give him a few weeks and he will be back in school. Instead, he spent 8 weeks in the hospital, 4 months in a coma, and every day since March 6, 2007 showing us what a fighter he really is. While I wish more than anything, he had recovered and was living life as a "normal child", it wasn't up to me. The fact is nothing on this Earth is up to me and my plans. God has a greater plan for all of us than we could imagine, and everything that happens is because of Him. We have spent the last five years pursuing anything that shows promise for Luke to get him walking and talking again. Some have worked for him, and some not so much. More than anything though, I have realized no matter how much we put our hopes in the latest promising treatment or cure, there is only one place we can put our hope and know that in the end all things will work together for His good.


Five years later, and we are at peace. This is our new normal. This is a cross we have been given to carry on this Earth. We are no different from anyone else. Everyone in their lives faces trials at some point, and it is through these trials that we grow. We learn what we are really capable of doing. I will never ever give up praying and believing that Luke will walk and talk one day. More than anything else though, I just pray he is happy with the life he has been given to live. I pray he feels loved and knows that everything we do for him is giving him a chance at just a little more independence. I pray that through their brother, his sisters will have more tolerance for those with special needs. I pray that we have the patience to get Luke through the hard days. I pray that those that meet him, will be able to get past what their eyes see to the boy Luke really is. I pray he will continue to have the perseverance, stamina, and drive to go places no one ever imagined he would. More than anything, I pray that he has peace to know that, even if it never happens here on Earth, someday he will be healed and walking and talking again.



Luke still continues to amaze us with the progress he makes. Just last week, in the middle of the night, I heard him calling out, "Ma, ma." This is something he has never done before, he usually will just yell if he needs us. I walked into his room and asked if he needed something. His reply, "Ya." When asked what he needed he said, "W-a-t-e-r." Now it was sound by sound to say the word, but we will take it, progress is good:) Thank you all so much for following us on this journey for the past 5 years. Without the amazing support we have from our family and friends, there is no way we could do it all. We are very blessed!