Talking About the Miracle

Last night was the Sharing Beautiful Photography Gallery by Steve Stanton at Two Rivers Craft Coffee Company, where Noah was one of the many children photographed for a book collection and photography gallery.   I went by myself, leaving the boys at home due to one still eating dinner and the other recovering from a minor cold.   I am sure it would have been so much more fun to have Noah there with me.   It is always different when you talk about the miracle of his survival, without seeing him in real life.   It's almost like this speech that is burned on my tongue... thirteen minutes without breathing or a heartbeat... global brain damage (the part that makes everyone's heart sink and their facial expressions cringe)...  the discussion of taking him from life support, being talked into that DNR against our better judgment and then later doctors trying to convince us to starve him to death... and his will to fight.  

Sharing Beautiful the Book

That was Noah's start, but not his present and not his ending.   I delicately dance around the questions of how hard things are now for Noah and even us as a family.  Carefully choosing my words so that I put all the wonderful things ahead of the hardships.  In fact, I rarely if ever discuss the hardships when first meeting someone new.  Or if I do, I attempt to make them sound like they really aren't that bad.  (Even if some days things are exceptionally rough). 

Small Feet Leave the Biggest Footprints in Your Heart

Gallery Pictures

Why not you might wonder?  Well it's all too much for strangers to absorb in the first initial introduction to Noah's story.  In the end people want a happy ending, and the happy ending for us is that Noah lived.  And we treasure his life more than the physical abilities that were stolen from him at birth.   Being overly forthcoming about all that goes along with life with a special needs child is a bit mind blowing for most.   And I know that I have the power to inspire and encourage hope and faith in all things possible.  People need that.  And they need to feel, understand and see the miracle of life before all that other complicated stuff like therapies, equipment, financial strain, the medical malpractice lawsuit, court judgments and appeals for all these various things, Medicaid, SSI, equipment vendors, and all the other circumstances that sit before me each day.  

People need to know the value of Noah's life means more than all that other stuff that I have to deal with.  It's often uncommon when strangers learning of Noah's story become personally invested or involved with our family long-term, but the very few that do, learn along the way about all the other hard stuff... or those curious usually seek out and read his blog and learn about many of the challenges we face as a family with a child who has special needs.  And all the others, well I hope they walk away with a memory of a little boy that they either seen or heard about and remember Everyday Holds the Possibility of a Miracle.

I never grow tired of sharing Noah's story.  His Miracle Story.  He lived.   That's the best part of the journey.  The most important part. 

If you get a chance to check out Noah and all these other amazing children at Two Rivers Craft Coffee Company, in Arvada, Colorado,  the portraits will be up for two months. 

As I sipped on a vanilla latte decorated with a blooming cream heart I thought how wonderful it was to connect with others, and share the story behind the child with piercing beautiful eyes in black and white photos.  It was such a honor for Noah to be included in such a diverse and beautifully done project. 

Love,



Noah's Miracle by Stacy Warden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.