When I get too whiney and full of self-pity, I remember Brandon.
Back in December I ran into him and his parents at Staples. They had adopted Brandon several months before. He's sweet and cute as a button with bright blue eyes and a ready grin. I was playing peek-a-boo with him, and he gurgled with laughter. He was lively as he sat in the stroller. Interested in the world and ready to explore. He also has HIV.
My friends had searched for a baby for a couple of years after they found out that they couldn't have children of their own. They prayed a lot and by chance discovered a website that talked of AIDS babies. About how these babies are born with HIV passed to them by their mothers. Many times they are also born with drug addictions because their mothers used drugs. The mothers abandon them or have them taken by the legal system. The babies are placed in various orphanages and hospitals, and then people wait for them to die.
It broke my friends' hearts to hear of the babies, and they decided one of those babies was meant by God for them. It was a hard, long and expensive process, but Brandon arrived at the Okahoma City airport June 2003.
His mother told me, "As soon as I held him, I knew this was my baby. I loved him. He is mine." She nodded firmly to me. "He is mine."
Brandon requires a lot of medical care. Fortunately, his new parents have been blessed with financial means. He's getting the best care there is. And he's getting such love that if love can cure, he will live a long and happy life.
This is a hard world where an innocent can suffer like this. And it is a wonderful world where people like my friends throw their hearts against the darkness. How can I think that I have problems, that my grief is overwhelming, that I am pitiful, when children like Brandon struggle just to live, just to grow up? I would not be worthy of breath if it didn't humble me.
You will notice a link to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation at the left. Please give. These babies need us. And they need us now.
3 comments:
*sniff* There's more I'd say, but not in public. Sending strength and good will to your friends and their child.
A wonderful story. Brandon will be in my prayers. It's amazing the courage that people can show.
-Susan1
Brandon's parents are truly blessed with caring hearts. I hope someday there will be a cure for AIDS. I donated today. I hope others do, too.
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