I am thankful for... the shared understanding when you lock eyes with another heart mom you pass by in the unit hallway the indescribable peace and comfort that comes from knowing your child is thought about and prayed for by more people than you can count the gentle encouragement from individuals you weren’t particularly close with in the past but who follow your journey and whose words are such a blessing to you now the coffee or meal brought/delivered to you by a fellow heart mom who knows all to well the feelings you are experiencing the doctor that stops by your child’s room not to medically assess but just to say hi when they are not on shift the nurse that texts you on her days off because she loves your child nearly as much as you do
the best friend who is not a heart mom but is beside you 110%, doing her absolute best to keep up with all the medical terminology and understand what you go through the tech who takes your arm when they see the worry in your eyes when your child is not acting as expected and there’s three doctors in the room the family members and friends that have diligently prayed for your family through the best and worst of times the opportunity to see just how much heart the nurses that care for your child put into each of their patients - you see their worry, care, nervousness, and excitement right alongside the family members the janitorial staff that take pride in their job and always strike up a conversation when they see you the conversations with other heart moms either just starting out their journey or farther along than you and the sweet moments where you think “they get it - they understand what this is like!” the security staff who ask how your child is doing and greet you by name when you arrive on the unit the doctor that sits and talks with you 1-on-1 about your child’s progress who also takes the extra minute to genuinely check in on your well-being the friendships - both near and far - cultivated on social media through the shared experience of parenting a medically complex child (and the hope that one day you’ll meet them in person) To paraphrase what a sweet friend said to me - this life is hard, but what do we have if we don’t have each other?