I found a manila envelope in the mail this afternoon with an MUSC sticker in the return address. \u00a0I knew what it was, but I just couldn’t bring myself to open it. \u00a0Maybe if I ignored it, it would go away.<\/p>\n
Of course it didn’t, so I opened it tonight after dinner.<\/p>\n
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Pennington: <\/em><\/p>\n This letter is to inform you that arrangements have been made for your child’s heart surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina by Dr. Scott Bradley…<\/em><\/p>\n The surgery has been scheduled for Mary Clare on 03\/09\/11…<\/em><\/p>\n I received the phone call last week so it’s no surprise. \u00a0Last week, the call was a shock. \u00a0Tonight, not so much as a quiet reminder. \u00a0I’ve thought about it every day since receiving the phone call.<\/p>\n I wonder if I’ll think of it every day until surgery?<\/p>\n Mel and I both were so thankful to know of her special heart before she was born, but this time is different. \u00a0I know Mary Clare. \u00a0I didn’t know her then. \u00a0I didn’t know that she would have little, blonde braids, a huge, sweet-tooth and say, “Torrible” instead of terrible or horrible. \u00a0I didn’t know that her favorite food, second only to chocolate, would be “flat cheese” folded twice into a perfect square stack. I had no idea that she would love her green paci, even at 3 1\/2, and drink juice all throughout the night and emulate her big sister. \u00a0Or that she could walk into a room and consume everyone’s attention by doing nothing, and that her favorite outfit would be a pink dance leotard and “Fuzzy Uggs.” \u00a0I’m sure I didn’t realize that she would completely frustrate me one moment and melt me the next with her little blue hands hugging me and giving me her “kitty cat head rub” against my cheek.<\/p>\n I hadn’t explained her half-heart a thousands times, or tried to explain how it actually works. \u00a0I hadn’t defended her physical weaknesses. \u00a0I hadn’t bragged about her her beautiful, blue lips and scars. \u00a0I hadn’t held her countless nights as she slept, hoping and praying that she lived until the next day. \u00a0I had yet to experience what it truly meant to be her<\/em> mother.<\/p>\n I’m not sure what to expect this time. \u00a0I know it will be different. \u00a0Until then, I’ll try not to count down the days. \u00a0I’ll keep on fussing about her little spunky attitude and sassy mouth (and secretly loving it). \u00a0I’ll keep hugging and kissing my blueberry everyday.\u00a0 We’ll have lots of fun and busy weeks until March and it may cross my mind often, this third surgery of hers.<\/p>\n I may not be ready now or even in March, for that matter,\u00a0 but one thing that I know is certain, I will thank God everyday for every moment we spend with Mary Clare.<\/p>\n God grant me the serenity Living one day at a time; –Reinhold Niebuhr\/William Spence<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I found a manila envelope in the mail this afternoon with an MUSC sticker in the return address. \u00a0I knew what it was, but I just couldn’t bring myself to open it. \u00a0Maybe if I ignored it, it would go away. Of course it didn’t, so I opened it tonight after dinner. Dear Mr. and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4765"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4765\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4784,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4765\/revisions\/4784"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nto accept the things I cannot change;
\ncourage to change the things I can;
\nand wisdom to know the difference.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\nEnjoying one moment at a time;
\nAccepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
\nTaking, as He did, this sinful world
\nas it is, not as I would have it;
\nTrusting that He will make all things right
\nif I surrender to His Will;
\nThat I may be reasonably happy in this life
\nand supremely happy with Him
\nForever in the next.
\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n