You say goodbye, and we say hello

I am sure that many of the families who have received excellent care as we did in Michigan wish to say thank you. In many ways, it is hard to express all that you would like to say. During our last night at Mott Children's, we made our attempt to show our deep gratitude as the boys got into their PJ's and took small gifts and cards decorated by Elliott and Euan to the medical teams who had looked after Elliott so lovingly and professionally. As we made our way into the ICU, I noticed the window pictured above (you can see Monica and the boys making their way behind me) with the word 'believe' painted onto the glass. In the ICU, there is often no more appropriate word to hold onto than that. 

Our hospital experience saw believing take on all sorts of tangible forms. One of the great gifts for us was to connect with fellow travelers on the road to wellness. Pictured above is the family of Jesse, a teenage boy who was Elliott's roommate on the floor after our discharge from ICU. Every night, as Elliott and Euan get ready to sleep, we say prayers for Jesse and those who love and care for him, reaching out to that same will to believe that we had shared together in our hospital room.

Along with new friends, friends and family whom we have known and held dear for years have also helped us hold onto believing. The above picture is of Michigan-based friends who drove a couple of hours with their own little bundle of joy, Mira, to be with us the day before we flew home to San Diego. 

In the end, perhaps the thing that kept us believing through all of the ups and downs of our hospital stays is the hope that we would indeed one day come back to home sweet home, and push open our very own front door. That is, thank the Lord, exactly the joy that we all got to experience on Monday night. The sense of relief and excitement for all three of our children was palpable. Euan sat at the kitchen table and happily ate breakfast cereal for dinner, Elliott explored all of his old toys, and Annie gave a happy sigh of relief as she turned her head to the side of her crib and recognized that she too was home. 

However, the icing on the cake of our homecoming was that slow dawn that it doesn't snow in Pacific Beach, San Diego, and with the wonderful new lighting that the parish kindly installed in the boys play area behind our garage, night basketball in the warmth of a January night is no longer a dream. 

Thank you to all of you who have left comments on this blog and for the many more who have been praying for Elliott from around the world. This will be our last post although I am planning to keep it all for posterity as a book (Google think of everything!). However, if I may, I will share the two ways that Monica and I intend to stay connected to the extraordinary work that Dr. James Stanley does to restore the lives of children from across the world. One, is that we will pray for him and his work. The other, is that we plan to give to a fund, set up by parents like us of a child who received care from Dr. Stanley, that supports families making the trip to Michigan to get their children the help they need. In case you would like to know more for yourself, here is the link to their page: http://www.med.umich.edu/mott/help/gift_family_stanley.html 

Elliott continues to make great progress in his recovery. He is running around, driving us crazy by asking the same question 15 times, and he ate at least three Weetabix for breakfast this morning. It's good to be back. 

Thank you, and grace and peace to you all.

With love,

The Mainwaring Family