Courage…

Our kiddos with special medical needs have to go through so much…more than many adults could handle! And they handle it well, but they are very aware of things most kids are not…

We talk about courage and bravery and their procedures a lot, but it is not usually at the front of any of our minds while we are living life. But when we get the girl’s Beads of Courage out, and we looks at each bead, that stands for a specific event in our child’s life, like getting an IV, or staying in the hospital, or having an echo, or a surgery…when we look at these strands of beads showing every hospital event, we realize how very blessed we are to have our girls here, with us.

Tiny P’s beads are almost 30 feet long, with so many beads of every color. Her favorite is her red heart “new heart” bead.

Little M’s strand is much shorter, but they have a story to tell also. She has beads for MRIs and beads for dye tests and CT scans…but the most sobering bead on her strand is the one she picked out after traumatically losing a great deal of blood after her last cath.

These are their Beads of Courage…and they tell a very brave story.